Broche ter gelegenheid van het vijfentwintigjarig regeringsjubileum van Koningin Wilhelmina 1923

This small, anonymous brooch was made to celebrate Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands’ twenty-fifth year in power. I can imagine the maker, hunched over their workbench, carefully applying enamel to the tiny flower. The pansy is a patriotic little thing, isn’t it? Those dark wine-red petals, edged with white, surrounding a flash of blue – it makes me think of flags and formal portraits. But there's also something so intimate and personal about it. The way the enamel fills each little section, creating a sense of depth and richness in such a small space. I wonder if the artist felt the weight of history, or if they simply focused on the craft, the joy of color and form? Maybe they saw it as a dialogue with the past. So much art is about this ongoing exchange of ideas, building on what came before. It reminds me that even the smallest gesture can be a form of expression, a way to connect with something larger than ourselves.