Amsterdam, Orange Restoration – Jan Gerritsz. Visser, 1787

ORANGE RESTORATION — PROCESSION OF SHIPWRIGHTS ON KATTENBURGERPLEIN

“Optocht en Vreugdebedryven der Scheepstimmerlieden & bij de Herstelling der Oude Constitutie Gehouden binnen Amsterdam in ‘t Jaar 1787 enz.” [Procession and Festive Celebrations of the Shipwrights, Held in Amsterdam on the Occasion of the Restoration of the Old Constitution in the Year 1787.] Copper engraving made by Jan Gerritsz. Visser and published by Willem Coertse in 1787. Coloured by a later hand. Size (including text): 25.5 × 36.5 cm.

We see a festive procession of craftsmen celebrating the Orange Restoration of 1787, when Patriot power was broken and the position of Stadtholder William V was restored. The scene takes place before the imposing building of the Amsterdam Admiralty (today the National Maritime Museum), above which a fluttering flag underscores the political triumph.

The text beneath the image explains the political significance of the spectacle. The processions and festivities are presented as expressions of gratitude for the “blessed reversal of affairs” and as demonstrations of loyalty by “Lovers, Supporters and Adherents of the Old, True, and Established Constitution and the Beloved House of Orange.” The participants are described as inhabitants—who had “suffered much for their upright convictions”—of Amsterdam’s Eastern Islands: Kattenburg, Wittenburg, and Oostenburg, an allusion to the tensions and repression during the Patriot period.

The celebrations took place on several evenings in October, November, and December of the so-called “Wonder Year 1787,” attracting “thousands of spectators.” The festivities were (unsurprisingly) dedicated to the hereditary stadtholder William V, his consort, and their “most promising princely offspring.”

Literature:

• Frederik Muller – “De Nederlandsche geschiedenis in platen : beredeneerde beschrijving van Nederlandsche historieplaten, zinneprenten en historische kaarten” (1863-1882), no. 5053.

Price: Euro 375,-