Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
reigned for 58 years and was by far the longest reigning Dutch monarch
This large Dutch server honors Queen Wilhelmina's reign from 1890 -
1948,
a span of time covering The Great War (WW1), The Great Depression,
World War
11and including the collapse of the Dutch overseas empire.
There is only a French Minerva silver quality mark --no manufacturer
mark
I suspect that this spoon was made in the early 1900s
This portrait was made when she was younger
The Royal Coat of Arms of Netherland adopted in 1815 which combined
elements of the former Dutch Republic and
family (King William 1) Orange-Nassau is engraved and
chased and pin pricked in the bowl.
"Je Maintiendrai" literally means "I will maintain" and is King William
1's
pledge to maintain the independence of the Netherlands.
"The arrows symbolize the seven provinces that made up the Republic,
the sword is the determination to defend their liberty, and the coronet
their sovereignty.
William replaced the coronet with a royal crown. In 1907, Queen
Wilhelmina returned to an open coronet."
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