Selected Members of the Van Wassenaer Obdam Family
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□ Selected members of the Van Wassenaer Obdam family Jacob III (1610-1665) x Agnes van Renesse van der Aa (d. 1661) Jacob IV (1645-1714) x Adriana S. van Raesfelt (d. 1694) Johan Hendrik Unico Wilhelm (1683-1745) (1692-1766) x Dodonea L. van Goslinga (1702-1769) Jacob Jan Carel George (1725-1779) (1733-1800) x Jacoba E. van Strijen (1741-1816) Jacob Unico Wilhelm (1769-1812) x 2 Margaretha H. Alewijn (1776-1802) Marie Cornélie (1799-1850) Downloaded from Brill.com10/03/2021 07:28:38PM via free access Menno Fitski CASTLE ‘OLD COLOURED JAPANESE PORCELAINS OF THE FIRST CLASS’ THE KAKIEMON COLLECTION AT TWICKEL CASTLE Close to the Oerman border, carefully sited in the gently rolling landscape, stands a most remarkable house. Twickel Castle (fig. 1) is unparalleled for its collections of furniture, paintings, drawings, books and other objects - and for the porcelain collection that forms the subject of this article. Equally extraordinary is the archive, which goes back to 1133 and contains an inordinate amount of documentation: not only the account books of the TWICKEL estate steward, invoices for workmen and the purchase of building materials, inventories of the house, political writings and personal correspondence, but also instructions for the staff, recipes and accounts of private spending, even AT going as far as an entry for the purchase of fruit on a trip to Paris. Twickel is a gem to be cherished, and fortunately good management has meant that the estate is in excellent shape, as can be testified by those who have visited the beautifully kept gardens and have admired the house from a distance - it is not open to the public. Twickel Castle and the van Wassenaer family In the centuries since its mediaeval beginnings, the house has been lucky to escape major damage by fire or warfare. It gained its present appearance in the late 17th century, when it became the property of the van Wassenaer family. Adriana Sophia, sole heir of the van Raesfelt family that owned Twickel, secured her future by marrying Jacob IV van Wassenaer Obdam in COLLECTION KAKIEMON THE Figure i Downloaded from Brill.com10/03/2021 07:28:38PM via free access Twickel Castle, Delden □ Figure 2 > P. Prieur, portrait of the Lieutenant Admiral Jacob III van Wassenaer Obdam,1659. Collection Twickel Foundation. Photograph: Rik Klein Cotink Figure 3 » J.J. Borchers, portrait of Jacob IV van Wassenaer Obdam. Collection Twickel Foundation. Photograph: Rik Klein Cotink 1676 (fig. 3). A descendant of an ancient and very prominent family of regents, van Wassenaer Obdam brought with him the political influence that the van Raesfelt family was keen to acquire. Jacob IV’s father Jacob III had been lieutenant-admiral and had continued the family line of military prowess (fig. 2). Among his achievements was the defeat of a Swedish fleet near Denmark, which earned him the Order of the Elephant. His bond with Denmark remained strong and the miniature portrait depicted here was probably made there, painted by Paul Prieur, an artist who was employed by the Danish court. Particularly successful financially was the capture of a fleet loaded with sugar during a blockade of the River Tagus in Lisbon. Actions such as these facilitated the purchase of property on the Kneuterdijk, within close proximity of the Stadholder’s court. The admiral did not, however, survive to enjoy his luxurious quarters for very long. During the battle of Lowestoft in 1665, his ship, the Eendracht, was blown up by a direct English hit on the gunpowder room. • Jacob IV Jacob IV thus became head of the family at the age of 20, a good decade before he was to marry and add Twickel to his already considerable possessions. The van Wassenaers, among the most influential aristocrats in the Dutch republic, maintained close contact with Stadholder William III and his wife Mary Stuart II, equally based in The Hague until their ascension to the English throne in 1689. Twickel served as a country seat alongside their regular residence on the Kneuterdijk, although Jacob IV spent a large proportion of his time on battlefields. He commanded troops on various occasions and acted as a diplomat at Versailles, in London and elsewhere, until an embarrassing episode in 1703. At the battle of Ekeren on the banks of the Westerschelde estuary, he found himself and his men surrounded by French troops. Estimating the situation to be lost, he fled through the enemy lines, ripping off his insignia. His report of defeat to headquarters in The Hague caused only a temporary stir, for soon afterwards the news was brought that despite his departure, the abandoned troops had nevertheless been victorious. Despite full official rehabilitation, his reputationDownloaded never recovered, from Brill.com10/03/2021 and the 07:28:38PM rest of his career focused on diplomatic missions and other political activities.via free He access Figure 4 spent several years at the culturally sophisticated court of Johann Wilhelm II, Facade of the Kneuter Elector Palantine in Dusseldorf, where his lineage gave him access to dijk house of van Was European court circles. The elector bestowed upon him the hereditary title of senaer Obdam. Reichsgraf. His sons Johan Hendrik and Unico Wilhelm accompanied their Engraving, in: J. de Riemer, Beschrij father on several occasions, experiencing the rich cultural life of the Elector ving van ’s Cravenhage, in Germany. c. 1730. Collection Gemeente • Johan Hendrik and Kneuterdijk archief Den Haag After their father’s death in 1714, Unico Wilhelm inherited Twickel, while his elder brother Johan Hendrik took up residence in the family seat of Kneuterdijk. Between 1716 and 1723, three existing properties were transformed into an elegant town palace, under the direction of the architect Daniël Marot (fig. 4). He based his design on the French model. Symmetrical wings led the eye to the central fa^ade, the central stairs and dome above accentuating the entrance. The slightly elevated ground floor gave the building a distinguished appearance that matched the political ambitions of the van Wassenaers. Johan Hendrik (fig. 5), now carrying his father's title of count, considered his position as an heir: 'since I am obliged to live here, I am compelled to observe that which is seemly to my birth and propriety and according to the rank and dignities, with which our ancestors have been vested thus far in this republic’.1 Johan Hendrik acquitted himself well in hisDownloaded public role, from Brill.com10/03/2021 which culminated 07:28:38PM in via free access his being appointed, albeit briefly, to the important position of Grand Pensionary of Holland. In his personal life, he dedicated considerable efforts □ to his extensive art collections. Consequently, his expenditure was such that after his death in 1745, he left his family with significant debts attached to various properties. His brother Unico Wilhelm spent some time recovering from these. He now owned both Twickel and the Kneuterdijk, and spent his time alternating between the two. On his death in 1766, followed by that of his wife three years later, once again the properties were divided between two sons: the elder son Johan Jacob moved into Kneuterdijk, while his brother Carel George took care of Twickel. • The late 18th century Johan Jacob seems to have enjoyed the good life, spending considerable sums on foreign trips, women and opera. Like his uncle Johan Hendrik, he remained unmarried. He died in 1779, leaving his brother Carel George as the sole heir. Carel George broke with the family tradition of preserving the noble sixteen quarters of his coat of arms when he married Jacoba Elisabeth van Strijen. There was a good reason to do so. Van Strijen not only survived her brother, sister and brother-in-law of the van Strijen lineage of successful merchants, but also the brothers and sister of her first husband Dirk Trip, from a wealthy and powerful Amsterdam family. Her vast fortune restored the depleted treasure chests of the van Wassenaers to their former glory. Figure 5 > After 1750, the attention of the van Wassenaers had gradually shifted to P. Schenk, Portrait of Twickel, where the Baroque garden design by Marot was updated to the Johan Hendrik van prevailing English landscaped style and a canal was dug nearby, to stimulate Wassenaer Obdam, the local economy. Nevertheless, Carel George continued his political role print, c. 1703. Collection Rijksmuseum Amster until his death in 1800. His wife Jacoba Elisabeth outlived him by 16 years, dam, RP-P-1906-3574 even surviving their only son Jacob Unico Wilhelm, who died in 1812. Unfortunately, Jacob Unico had been unable to continue the family line. Figure 6 » Despite three marriages, he only produced a daughter with his second wife: D. Marot, cabinet with Marie Cornélie. With the end of the Wassenaer Obdam lineage, the porcelain, print, 1712. Collection Rijksmuseum Kneuterdijk changed hands. After the death of Jacoba Elisabeth in 1816, it Amsterdam, RP-P-1964- was sold. The contents came to Twickel and, as we shall see, it is likely that 3063 the Kakiemon collection was part of the Kneuterdijk inventory. Downloaded from Brill.com10/03/2021 07:28:38PM via free access □ Japanese porcelain in the Kneuterdijk There are a number of inventories describing the van Wassenaer properties over the centuries. Porcelain figures in many of them, although, as one would expect, few records are specific enough to allow attribution to existing pieces. However, in combination with other documents, it is possible to reconstruct an image of the types of porcelain that were present in the Kneuterdijk residences. • The 1676 inventory The first is the inventory of the contents of one of the two Kneuterdijk houses owned by the van Wassenaers.