Ontwerp voor een bord van aardewerk ter gelegenheid van de geboorte van prinses Juliana in 1909 1909

This is Carel Adolph Lion Cachet’s 1909 design for a plate made to celebrate Princess Juliana’s birth. It’s all lines, circles and heraldic emblems in pencil and ink on paper, with that slightly yellowed tone that old paper gets. I wonder what it was like for Cachet to try and translate national pride into decoration, and to corral all those symbols of power – lions, crowns, heraldic shields. Did it feel awkward, or natural? Look at how he’s carefully arranged these emblems, trying out variations. Each line must have been so precise! You see the control, the delicacy. It makes me think about other designers, like William Morris, who tried to bring art into everyday life. It's about how we can find beauty and meaning in the objects that surround us, and how artists are always trying to make sense of the world, and maybe even make it a little better.