In 1975 Mrs Wilhelmina Elsabe Taets van Amerongen-Rutgers from Rozenburg (1904-1982) donated an empire-line court train in lavender-coloured moire-silk from her family in Utrecht to the Centraal Museum. The curator of applied arts at the time, baron Jan Joost Carel Taets van Amerongen (1932-2009) was able to persuade his aunt to make this generous gesture. No written information about this train, which was almost certainly never worn, has survived. The width of the border might identify its royal origin. Research reveals that the train possibly belonged to the wife of Lodewijk Napoleon (1778-1846), queen Hortense de Beauharnais (1783-1837). The Ceremonial de l'Empire Francais of 1805 states that all ladies admitted to court must dress in the style of the empress, and that if they choose to have an embroidered border, this must be no wider than one decimetre. Malmaison Castle near Paris has a velvet train which belonged to Hortense which is also about 3 metres long. The 'Utrecht' train is up until now the only example of a court train from this period which has been kept in the Netherlands. Even though there is no evidence as to anyone else having worn the train, we still can't be certain that Hortense was the owner. This does not make this Manteau de Cour any less rare; it is one of the treasures of Europe.
Title
Hofsleep of Manteau de Cour
Artist
Dating
1809 - 1810
Material and technique
Object number
19760
Object type
Acquisition
schenking 1975
Dimensions
lengte 305 cm (ca.)
breedte 165 cm (ca.)
tailleband 62 cm
Remarks
Tot 1996 (publicatie van de coll. cat. Mode en kostuums) was de datering: 1809. Sinds 2007 is de datering: 1809-1810 (?). Mogelijk begin 1810, in de stijl van eind 1804-1810. (Hanneke Adriaans, oud-conservator mode Centraal Museum, Utrecht, in artikel: Manteau de Cour, in: Haagse hofmode, Den Haag, Zwolle 2007, p. 16).
In de coll.cat Mode en kostuums (1996) staat dat de hofsleep mogelijk gedragen is door Elisabeth Charlotta Both Hendriksen-Winter. Nadien is het onderzoek naar de herkomst voortgezet, zie Hanneke Adriaans, in artikel: Manteau de Cour, in: Haagse hofmode, Den Haag, Zwolle 2007, p. 16.
Documentation
- Haute Bordure : Geborduurde kleding en accessoires in Nederland 1620 - 2020, Voorw. door Kris Callens, tekst Eveline Holsappel, Anne-Marie Segeren, (Haagse hofmode), p. 74
Exhibitions
- Haute Bordure, Fries Museum
- Uit de Mode, Centraal Museum
- Haagse Hofmode, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
- Lodewijk Napoleon. Aan het hof van onze eerste koning, 1806-1810, Paleis Het Loo - Nationaal Museum
- De Utrechtse Parade 1495-1995, van Van Scorel tot Rietveld en Koch, Centraal Museum
- Presentatie gerestaureerd Empire-bed, Frans Halsmuseum
- Spectacle Coupé II, Centraal Museum
Persistent url
To refer to this object please use the following persistent URL: https://hdl.handle.net/21.12130/collect.F7FD2AD4-4F59-421A-BF98-94F5DA68A1B8
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