THE ROYAL DESIGNS BY C.A. LION CACHET

THE ROYAL DESIGNS BY C.A. LION CACHET

Cachet was an artist and designer, he was born in Amsterdam in 1864 and died in 1945.

He was one of the pioneers of the Dutch art Nouveau style and developed the batik style (a style originally from Java Indonesia).

These styles were typical for his designs. This artist was very knowledgeable of his materials and he designed things such as pottery, wallpaper, billboards, banknotes, furniture, medals and interiors for large ships and buildings.

In 1898 he designed a plate for the inauguration of Queen Wilhelmina in batik style made by Petrus Regout of Maastricht and presented to the schoolchildren of Amsterdam. There were 77,875 plates made, making this one of the most common commemorative plates made in The Netherlands.

In 1901 he designed a tin plaque for the wedding of Queen Wilhelmina. Only the front had a design, the reverse was left blank. It came in crowned monogrammed box and was made by the Amsterdam firm J.A Gerritsen. There were 45,000 made and were presented to the schoolboys of Amsterdam. 23 of these plaques were made in silver and two were presented to the Royal couple when they visited Amsterdam. The schoolgirls were given a flowerpot also designed by Cachet and made by the firm Amstelhoek. 41,500 were made but the quality was so bad that not many survived.

In 1909 he designed a beaker to commemorate the birth of princess Juliana. Made by the Maastricht firm the Sphinx and presented as a gift to the schoolchildren of Amsterdam. Two different copies exist.

Petrus Regout used his design of the 1898 plate to make a set of child plates to be presented in a cassette of 6 to the Queen in honour of the birth of princess Juliana. These plates are only 8cm in diameter and are exact copies of the original plate. Only a few were made one is in our collection.

A year later he designed a plate for the first birthday of princess Juliana.

In 1923 Cachet designed a plate for the silver jubilee of Queen Wilhelmina for the firm Distel but they never went into production (see article nr 13).

Also for the Distel he designed a rare vase with a lion décor for the silver jubille of Queen Wilhelmina.

In 1925 the firm RAM came with a plate designed by Cachet for the 25th birthday of princess Juliana. Only a small number were made.

In 1936 he designed a plate for the engagement of princess Juliana with prince Karel of Sweden. The engagement never happened so the plate never went into production. Only 3 copies are known to exist (see article nr 2).

In 1938 he designed a plate for the ruby jubilee of Queen Wilhelmina for the firm Goedewaagen but these never went into production (see article nr 23).

He was a personal friend of the Royal family and received a knighthood from Queen Wilhelmina on his 60th birthday

INFORMATION SOURCE:  THE BOOK C.A. LION CACHET 1864-1945