Engraved and carved in relief.

Good.

…; ? with BK-NM-250, inherited by Margareta Maria Konsé, Amsterdam; by whom donated to the Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden, The Hague, 1827;¹¹Note RMA. King William I is named as the consigner, evidently the portrait medallions were placed in his care. transferred to the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst, The Hague, 1875; transferred to the museum 1885

Object number: BK-NM-251

Frankfurt-born Johannes Christian Konsé (1700-1758) became a burgher of Amsterdam in 1729. He was not only a goldsmith, engraver, stamp cutter and diamond setter, but also worked with mother-of-pearl, as is apparent from some seven signed items.²²For Konsé’s work as a mother-of-pearl engraver, see W.H. van Seters, ‘Parelmoerkunstenaars in de 18de eeuw: Het werk van J.B. Barckhuysen, J.C. Konsé en C. la Motte’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 17 (1966), pp. 247-63, esp. p. 259 and J.C.A. Schokkenbroek, ‘Een Duitse graveur in Amsterdam “J.C. Konse (1700-1758) en zijn plaquette voor de V.O.C.”’, Amstelodamum 90 (2003), pp. 3-14. These comprise five portrait medallions and two larger reliefs with scenes from the commercial world, one showing the various stages of salt extraction (BK-1996-1) and the other Dutch trade with China.³³J.C.A. Schokkenbroek, ‘Een Duitse graveur in Amsterdam “J.C. Konse (1700-1758) en zijn plaquette voor de V.O.C.”’, Amstelodamum 90 (2003), pp. 3-14, esp. fig. 5. Together with Jan Bernard Barckhuysen (c. 1684-1760) and Cornelis la Motte (1749-1804), Konsé is considered to be one of the foremost mother-of-pearl carvers working in the Netherlands in the eighteenth century.

This medallion with the likeness of Prince William V (1748-1806) is signed on the back by Konsé and dated 1757. In 1827 the plaquette was donated to the Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden, together with a comparable medallion portrait dating from 1756 of William V’s father and predecessor, Prince William IV (BK-NM-250). The portraits of the two stadholders present the subjects facing each other and it is likely that they formed pendants. The donor of the portraits was Margareta Maria Konsé, who, in view of her unusual family name, must have been a descendant of the artist, perhaps a daughter or granddaughter.

Leeuwenberg thought it was possible that, for the present medallion, Konsé had used a print of William V, standing, made by Pieter Tanjé (RP-P-OB-104.764) after a painting by Pieter Frederik de la Croix of 1755.⁴⁴The Hague, Stichting Historische Verzamelingen van het Huis Oranje-Nassau, see RKD images, no. 21962. The young prince’s clothing does indeed correspond with that in the painting, though unlike in that example, here he has his head completely turned to the right.

Bieke van der Mark, 2025

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 416 (the images of the pendants were mixed up), with earlier literature; J.C.A. Schokkenbroek, ‘Een Duitse graveur in Amsterdam “J.C. Konse (1700-1758) en zijn plaquette voor de V.O.C.”’, Amstelodamum 90 (2003), pp. 3-14, esp. p. 10, figs. 10, 11 (the images of the pendants were mixed up)

B. van der Mark, 2025, 'Johannes Christiaan Konsé, Portrait Medallion of Prince William V of Orange-Nassau (1748-1806), Amsterdam, 1757', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20062765