Kroning van Willem III en Maria II Stuart 1689

Curator: Right, let's have a closer look at this commemorative object. It’s a metalwork, specifically a sculpted coin celebrating the "Coronation of William III and Mary II Stuart," dating back to 1689. It resides here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Wow, the detail is astonishing, like capturing a political moment in something you could hold in your hand! It gives you this funny feeling, being intimate with grand history, almost as if the moment is close enough to touch. Curator: Absolutely, and considering the materiality, the way metal allows for such crisp details...it also hints at the economies involved in producing and distributing such objects. Who had access to it, how did it circulate and create public support for the new monarchs? It invites inquiry into those production processes, how they influenced royal legitimacy. Editor: Legitimacy...I like how it presents them. They’re turned towards each other in a sweet profile, regal of course with those wigs and frills, but with something…vulnerable, even? Curator: One side features William and Mary, the other seems to portray some sort of allegorical scene, perhaps representing peace or Britannia, all classic iconographies, serving certain functions and designed to influence opinions on the political matter. The metal medium is not only aesthetic but political. Editor: And to think about someone holding it back then... I wonder what they were really thinking and feeling holding this miniature propaganda machine in their pocket! History is, if nothing, a great anecdote. What else could we extract from this material souvenir? Curator: It reminds us how intertwined art, craft and manufacture really are and to see the narratives told are always for a specific, and rarely transparent purpose. It shows us how "Art" and "artifact" blur together as the same time that "Power" and "the people" do. Editor: Power to the people. Perfectly captured in pocket form. Thanks, Metalwork, for being that anecdote!