William III, Stadholder of the Netherlands and King of England (1650-1702), Knife Handle

Entry

In their day, Stadholder-King William III and his spouse Queen Mary II of England were popular subjects for folk and applied art. For instance, their likenesses often feature on Delftware (cf. BK-NM-10105) or, as in this case, on cutlery handles. Good examples of ivory cutlery handles depicting this royal couple can be found in the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum in Aachen and in the Marquart collection.¹

The carved ivory or boxwood anthropomorphic cutlery handle had started to spread in the Northern Netherlands in the second half of the seventeenth century. During Stadholder William III’s reign of England, from 1689 to 1702, many finely-carved cutlery handles were exported to that country which in turn enhanced the quality of production there.² That period of Dutch influence sometimes makes it difficult to determine the origin of the handles. However, the present, somewhat primitively carved set can almost certainly be situated in the Northern Netherlands, in view of the depicted subjects combined with the decidedly orangist inscription on William’s sash: vij fa or aen (Vivat Oraenge, i.e ‘Long live Orange’). The smaller handle, depicting Queen Mary (NG-NM-570) would normally have belonged to a fork. Accordingly, the larger handle, with William’s likeness (shown here), would have been part of a knife. There are knife and fork handles from the Northern Netherlands portraying an opulently dressed gentleman and lady which are somewhat comparable in style. They too are kept in the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum.³

Bieke van der Mark, 2025