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THE ROYAL FAMILY IN WAX
- The PANOPTICUM AMSTELSTRAATIn 1882 “The Panopticum” the first wax museum in the Netherlands opened it’s doors in the Amstelstraat in Amsterdam.
The museum had a collection of wax figures of famous people in different settings. There also was a torture chamber. But the most popular attraction was a sitting room with the Royal family in wax. (King Willem III, Queen Emma and the 2 year old princess Wilhelmina).
The king had given permission to the museum to rebuild their sitting room exactly as it was in the palace. In a era without TV or internet this was the only chance people had to see what the Royal family looked like.
Entrance fee was 25 cents and in September people could get in for half the prize.
Thousands of ordinary folk visited the museum in September.
In 1898 when Wilhelmina was crowned the museum showed a wax figure of the Queen on her throne and later in 1901 after her wedding a wax figure of prince Hendrik was added.
In our collection we have several miniature wax figurines of the Royal family, exactly as the ones in the museum. You could probably buy them as a souvenir of your visit to the museum. They were made in several different colors. Now very rare.
There also was a panopticum board game for sale with the Royal family on it.
The panopticum closed in 1919. Everything was auctioned.
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- Queen Wilhelmina in wax in miniature, ca 10 cm high.
1898
- Queen Wilhelmina in wax in miniature, ca 10 cm high.