Oud Geld

There is a new exhibit in the Netherlands that looks like a really interesting one!  It is called 'Oud Geld - the old boys network in the golden age' and is being shown at the Fries Museum, in Leeuwarden.

The english description of the exhibit is:

The Golden Age is all the rage again! And not just in Holland, but in Friesland as well. In the 17th century, Friesland was the second wealthiest province in the Republic, after Holland. The exhibition Oud Geld (Old Money) reveals who called the shots in Friesland: the ‘Quote 500’ of the Golden Age. An old boys network of extremely prosperous merchants, administrators and nobles defined the culture and the economy. Apparently, notions such as ‘nouveaux riches’ and ‘must haves’ are timeless.Oud Geld shares stories about trendsetters like Stadtholder Willem Frederik van Nassau-Dietz, forefather of our current queen. Various 17th-century treasures in the museum’s collection are showcased, including thePoptaschat, iconic Frisian silver tableware; and portraits by the important Frisian painter Wybrand de Geest, which are displayed alongside their contemporary equivalents.

There are some fantastic portraits with lovely laces shown as well as this spectacular table cabinet which appears to feature both painted silk and embroidered silks.  It is currently on a newer stand to look like a chest on stand.

It will be on at the museum until the 30th of August 2015 so there is plenty of time to put this into any of your travel plans for the next year and a half.

While you are visiting the museum site, visit their related site dedicated to their collection of over 440 Freisan samplers.  I have two of my own that I love very much and I love seeing such a large number in one database to understand what was being taught in one area.   Hit the blue button on the right that says Alle Merklappen and you will get to the full database.  Each sampler shows the front and back in high resolution with a magnification function that can show the stitches.  This to me is the Mercedes of online research tools and they should be commended for how well the site was done!