Design cups and royal show pieces

In the previous post the happenings in two of the wings of Palace Het Loo were shown, this post will take you to a contemporary Dutch Design exhibition in the interior of the Palace, Royal Show Pieces.

The Palace has many exhibitions going on at the same time. As we had seen the Grace Kelly story and had had our coffee break, it was now time for the second and third aim of our journey. Or was it the third and the fourth? Sitting in those royal orange chairs in the Ballroom made us feel very royal, so maybe that was number two. On to the interior of the palace and the flower exhibition. This post will deal with only the first of five rooms with this specific mixture of old and new.

A view through the main gate onto the symmetrical garden

Although one arrives on a big court with steps leading to a big door, as a visitor you have to go down tiny stairs and reach the palace through the basement door.

Not upstairs as a visitor, but downstairs - note the yellow triangular warning sign to be careful with the steps.

It was confusing, no indicators to what and how; at least we did not see them – there is so much to take in in environments where you have not been for a while. After we had looked around in the basement, had taken good notice of the museum shop, the wide staircase ahead of us looked inviting. A warden must have noticed our confusion and stepped forward, right in front of us. We felt as we were being held back and going somewhere we should not go. After all the palace is still being used for official and royal ceremonies. ‘Is this the way to the flower exhibition?’. The answer was ‘Yes, it is’, the lady stepped aside and off we went. Once more abundant similar flower arrangements as in the Ballroom welcomed us. We passed the front door, a gate of unsurpassed craftsmanship, through which we had a glimpse on the ornamental symmetrical garden. There is a big difference in the ‘front door’ and the ‘back door’ (which is also a front door, just to make it easy).  In a future post more on this.

This is only a part of the door, there is a second part on top of it.

Friendly senior citizens, no doubt working as volunteers, were happy to hand and explain us the audio tour. This is so to be recommended, the text very creative and informing. In every room one was taken back in time and being spoken to by a ‘person from that era’, telling an interesting or funny story, giving details on subjects, paintings, etc. A chief cook, for instance told about the competition between the courts, a competition on who had the best and the most famous cook. It just gives so much more inside information, really worth the money and so much fun. Fiddling around with the gadget and having to change it for another one, as the 'ears' were not OK, it distracted me and I just had a quick glimpse on ‘Portraits of the King’, three official portraits made of King Willem-Alexander, at the big entrance hall.

In the first exhibition room the Dutch Design theme was ‘Dining with the King’. In various show cases and a big wooden frame fascinating modern design items were displayed.We had already had a preview in the Ballroom, where we had our coffee. Beautiful items used by Queen Wilhelmina could be seen also, but I like to share some Dutch Design with you.

What I liked about Iris Toonen’s ‘Service with character’ (2003), (on show in New York in 2005) were the shape and decoration of the cups. The decorations so match the environment of the Palace, the Veluwe, and its wild life. The gold tipped spoons were unusual.

Modern art and design can be so surprising, so inspiring. This ‘Jonghlabel -Royal re-PAIR’ was amusing. So creative, a nice combination of old and new. Very inviting for a modern royal tea.

No dining or tea with a king without gentlemen-in-waiting.

Do have a look at the blog of the Palace, it is interesting to read the background information on the gentlemen-in-waiting and gives a better picture than mine. The coats have cost the earth, the gold embroidery is handmade. The coats were ‘handed down’ for this costly reason and worn by more than one person. The difference between those on the pictures are the buttons, with initials ‘W’ and ‘J’ of Queen Wilhelmina and Queen Juliana. 

Daniel Marot's tapestries behind the gentlemen-in-waiting.

The picture is a bit blurred, it so difficult to catch a scene without catching another visitor at the same time. Do note that the tapestry on the floor is the same as the ceiling.This striking detail we never noticed when we were there, we heard this afterwards at home from a man who had been working on the renovation. Too much to see and to digest, one is so absorbed by the environment. After all it is dining with a king and we do not always get a glimpse of this, nor on the contemporary art on display.

These two figures overlook the whole room, with Daniel Marot’s ceiling and tapestries. The tapestries were King William III and Queen Mary's showpieces.The wooden standard at the bottom of the picture held many show pieces.

On now to the next part of the exhibition, beautiful paintings on the wall and flowers accompanying us. Thanks for visiting this post. Do come back to read the next story, hope you enjoyed this part of the surprising exhibition on 'old and new', on contemporary art mixed with beautiful old art.

I am joining Martha here with her Teacup Tuesdays, with such fabulous teacups on show (all pieces of art as such) and stories by so many enthusiastic bloggers.

On Monday next I am starting on a photo course (only a short one) on using a compact camera. Hopefully the pictures (until now taken with a cell phone) will improve.

Enjoy the last moments of summer and your tea!