Nazi-plundered porcelain may have made an appearance in museums in the Netherlands.
Above image: A plate from the Meissen collection, sourced from blogger Por lacalle de Alcalá.
The NL Times reported recently that art collections in Paleis Het Loo, the Rijksmuseum and three other musuems may include 15 pieces of valuable Meissen porcelain dinnerware which were looted from a German Jewish family, the Gutmanns. A recent investigation by the Artiaz bureau in Amsterdam concluded the works were put up for auction in 1934 under coercion from the Nazis.
A spokesperson for the Paleis Het Loo National Museum Foundation said the organization is taking the investigation seriously and will start conducting research into the claim immediately. Another investigation bureau in Berlin expects the Gutmann family to contact the Netherlands State and Restitution Commission to ask for the set to be returned.
The stolen items are part of a 435-piece Meissen dinnerware set depicting village scenes which were given to Willem V in 1774 as a gift from the United East-Indian company. The prince sold the set while he was in exile in England. Twenty-six of these were eventually purchased by Herbert Gutmann, son of Dresdner Bank founder Eugen Gutmann.
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