The Miniature Crown Jewel Collection + The Crown of The Netherlands

Description

The Crown of The Netherlands is part of the Miniature Crown Jewel Collection created and designed by Nicholas & Susan Findeisen, the original owners of Crowns & Regalia, Ltd and is entirely hand made by skilled artists using the finest materials. Each piece is hand cast in high quality Pewter, then richly 22ct. Gold or Sterling Silver plated, hand polished, set with minute Austrian Crystal stones and/or hand enamelled and finished, and comes in its original box.
The History of the Original:
The Crown of The Netherlands
consists of eight arches topped with an orb and cross.
The crown was created in 1840 for King Willem II, by Bonebakker Jewellers of Amsterdam. It is fashioned from silver, plated with gold.
There were originally 72 fake pearls on the arches of the crown, but 24 were removed in 1898 and the holes filled with small gold studs.
A red silk velvet lining covers the inside of the crown.
There are no precious stones in the crown, the gems are made from coloured glass backed by foil.
The crown is not worn - and monarchs of the Netherlands are inaugurated rather than crowned - but it is placed on a cushion on a table while the ceremony takes place.
The Dutch Royal family has a crown, but there is no
coronation and the monarch does not wear it.
The tradition of not crowning the monarch dates from 1815, when Willem I became the monarch of the newly created Kingdom of the Netherlands.
That kingdom included modern-day Belgium, and while the Belgians were Catholics, the Dutch were Protestants, raising the problem of who would put the crown on the king's head.
Neither the Kingdom of Belgium, once it became independent, nor the Scandinavian monarchies that took their modern form in a similar era, chose to have coronation ceremonies.
In the Netherlands, there was resistance to the kind of grand regal displays adopted by older monarchies.
In 1816, a Dutch crown was nonetheless designed to replace the old one, initially for symbolic use such as on letterheads.
*Crown and box is in original mint condition.*
**Crown measures approximately
1" tall x 1" wide.
Box measures approximately 4" L x 3" W x 1-1/4" T **