One thing is absolutely clear, the younger generations of the House of Orange are certrainly not collectors, possibly with the exception of former Queen Beatrix, who seems to own a some Willem de Kooning paintings. That was already evident at the "attic clearance" auction in 2011, where items were sold that shouldn't be, like the central table & chairs of the Indian room of Noordeinde palace. They were made for that room, taken out for reasons of fashion possibly, but should have remained in storage. Same goes for the 18th century silver. One doesn't sell the family silver, unless in dire need. Concerning private versus public property, I myself have always wondered how for instance all the empire furniture, including the countless valuable clocks at the Amsterdam Palace are all labeled "Stichting Historische Verzamelingen van het Huis". Yes, the city of Amsterdam gave King Willem I the use of their former city hall (and later on the building was bought outright by the state), but did he acquire with that also the contents??
Thanks lucas!
Saw it on the news ealier today and wondered if these sales of rather important items (I mean, who sells a study by famous P.P. Rubens anyway ...?) well, if these sales are done on behalf of J&B's descendants or is this - yet another - attic clearance .....
** And for those who read & understand the Dutch language I like to include this link with very interesting historical facts and question marks about the way the Dutch royals dispose of important works of art which they label as 'being private' ! https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2016/10/09/grens-tussen-staats-en-privebezit-van-oranjes-is-vaag-a1525652
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