Crown of the Netherlands

[1] When, in 1815, Willem was proclaimed "King of the Netherlands" in Brussels, he was not crowned but there was a crown present during his inauguration, a huge and unusable construction of gilded copper, pearls made of pasted fishskin and coloured glass.

The four holes in the ring, the peculiar size and the lack of a bill in the accounts that do contain the jeweler's bill for the gilded silver orb and sceptre, suggest that it was the old "funeral crown", used by the stadtholders in the 18th century and then tied to a cushion on top of the coffin when driven to the vault in Delft.

The renowned Amsterdam jewelry firm As Bonebakker & Son was commissioned to make the crown.

It was made of gilded silver, balls covered with fish skin and glass with coloured foil behind it.

Willem II and his successors chose not to wear it, but to leave it on a special table during the ceremony when both the King and the States-General take the oath.