Page 15 - Women Collectors and the Rise of the Porcelain Cabinet (Collecting history in Europe)

were fi tted out for that purpose, both in the palaces her passion for collecting porcelain there. However, a
in Kassel and in her country houses. The majority large proportion of her porcelain collection was based
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of the porcelain was inherited by her daughter on the stock acquired by her husband’s ancestors.
Marie Louise (1688–1765), who was married to John His grandmother Amalie Elisa beth (1602–1651), née
William Friso van Nassau-Diez, and as a widow fi tted Hanau-Münzenberg and wife of Landgrave William
out the Princessehof in Leeuwarden. Years later her V of Hes se-Kassel (1602–1637), had bequeathed her
granddaughter, the daughter of her son Maximilian, granddaughter by marriage 1,065 pieces of porcelain,
had her portrait painted with Japanese vases (Fig 9). some of which were mounted in gold or silver gilt, Fig. 9
along with lacquer and Asian fabrics. This collection Johann Heinrich Tischbein
the Elder (1722–1789), Princess
It is instructive to trace how Maria Amalia came to had been derived, in turn, from legacies she inherited Christine Charlotte of Hesse-
own such an opulent collection of porcelain in the in the 1640s from her mother Catharine Belgica and Kassel (1725–1782), 1765.
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fi rst place (Fig. 10). The earliest known pieces of her unmarried sister Charlotte of Hanau. Catharine Oil on canvas, 147.7 x 112.6
cm. Hessische Hausstiftung,
porcelain owned by a woman in the family were the 12 Belgica (1578–1649), a daughter of William I of Museum Schloss Fasanerie,
precious pieces of porcelain given in 1618 to Duchess Orange (1533–1584) and his third wife Charlotte of Eichenzell, inv. No. FAS B 73.
In 1765 Christine Charlotte
Elisabeth von Mecklenburg-Güstrow (1596–1625), Bourbon (1546–1582), was married to Count Philip became a canoness of the
the eldest daughter of Landgrave Maurice of Hesse- Louis II of Hanau-Münzenberg (1576–1612). From imperial abbey in Herford.
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Kassel, as part of her dowry. She clearly considered 1634 onwards she lived in The Hague and assembled This portrait, of which several
versions exist, may have
them so valuable that they were incorporated into a substantial porcelain collection. The huge increase been painted in connection
her miniature Kunstkammer. This Kunstkammer in the amount of porcelain owned by a single person with that event. Photo:
Kulturstiftung des Hauses
consisted of an ‘East Indian chest’, fi lled with objects can be illustrated by the number of items recorded Hessen, Museum Schloss
made of ivory, coral and silver, with gemstones and in this collection at the beginning of the 17 century Fasanerie, Eichenzell.
th
crystals, as well as porcelain with gold and silver
mounts. Although the porcelain was not passed
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on to succeeding princesses of Kassel on account of
inheritance disputes, this example clearly illustrates
the great esteem in which Asian porcelain was held
in the period around 1600. However, following the
founding of the Dutch East India Company (VOC),
this luxury product, of which only isolated pieces had
previously been available, started to come to Europe
in larger quantities, bringing about a change in status.
Porcelain was removed from the context of the general
Kunstkammer and integrated into the living quarters
of palaces, fi rst as ornaments, and then towards the
end of the century as usable commodities. In contrast
to the period of art and curio chambers, the aim was
now to own an impressive abundance of porcelain.
By losing its character as a singular object, porcelain
acquired a different status. Since most objects were
in the form of vessels, their practical function or at
least their potential use as tableware came to the fore.
This, in turn, placed them within the household realm
and more fi rmly in the area of female responsibility.
However abundant, porcelain was still too precious to
be put to everyday use and for inheritance purposes it
remained outside the category of household goods.
Thus, it could be inherited through the female line and
under the legal systems of many German principalities
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this was indeed the case.
During her youth the as-yet unmarried Princess of
Courland, Maria Amalia of Hesse-Kassel, had been
a lady-in-waiting in Berlin and may have developed

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