A commemorative pipe for the 50th anniversary of the Kingdom of The Netherlands

(by Ruud Stam)

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Two hundred years ago, on the 30th of November the hereditary prince Willem of the house of Orange, the son of the last Stadtholder Willem V, landed at Scheveningen after 18 years of exile in England. On the 2nd of December of that same year Willem was inaugurated in The Hague as King Willem I.  

 

This pipe commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Kingdom. On one side of the pipe there is a depiction of King Willem I, who reigned from 1813 to 1840. On the stem is the text: Eendracht maakt macht (union is strength). On the other side of the pipe is the portrait of King Willem III, who reigned from 1849 to 1890. On the stem is the text: Nederland en Oranje (The Netherlands and Orange). 

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Jan de Gidts "Orange Pipe", Gouda 1845-1894. [Photos :Hans van der Meulen ]

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This pipe was made by the pipe maker Jan de Gidts who was a famous pipe maker in Gouda from 1845 until 1894. The heel is marked with a crowned 52.  Jan de Gidts had a medium-sized pipe maker shop and was well to do. In 1876 he had the largest number of employees, 18 adults and 2 children, who made pipes for him.

 

In the Netherlands the so called ‘Orange pipe’ was rather popular. With such a pipe a man could show that he was an Orangist, a supporter of the House of Orange. The first ‘Orange pipes’ were made in the seventeenth century. The oldest of which probably dates from c1630 and depicts Frederik Hendrik and Amalia van Solms.

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(Collection: Ruud Stam)

Literature

Duco, D. H., 1983. Een reclameontwerp voor Jan de Gidts. Pijpelijntjes IX (4), p. 8-10.

Meulen, J. van der & Steenbergen, M. & Mayenburg, F., 1984. Een interessante 19e eeuwse pijpenstort in Gouda. PKN 7 (26), p. 26-38.

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