Princessehof Museum

Leeuwarden, the capital city of Friesland province in the Northern Netherlands, is the home of the Museum het Princessehof, formerly the residence of Maria Louise van Hessen-Kassel, the wife of Johan Willem Friso, Prince of Orange. The name Princessehof means Princess's Court. The museum houses a magnificant collection of pottery and ceramic sculpture as well as tiles, primarily Dutch but including others from Spain, Portugal, France, England, Italy, Syria, Iran and Turkey.




Jaap Jongstra, Assistant Curator Tiles & Frisian Earthenware, Princessehof Museum.

Our guide, Jaap Jongstra, assistant curator of tiles, took us to the basement of the museum where tiles by the hundreds are being conserved. What was most interesting was the way in which the tiles were displayed, namely in large panels, as they would have been installed originally as wall coverings. Studying the examples below provides a perspective rarely seen with contemporary tiles. We are more used to decorative tiles as inserts, borders or murals. Here there are individual tiles, all different yet thematically related, providing the viewer with an extraordinary glimpse into the nation's history and natural bounty.

On a personal note: I was impressed with the quality of everything I saw at Princessehof, the obvious care for historic materials and the way they are being conserved and displayed. I was ready to drop everything and spend the rest of my life at this museum. ~ Joe Taylor
Visit www.princessehof.nl.