In the course of a visit to Hampton Court Palace, we had occasion to visit King William III's private dining room, the one now decorated with the portraits of some of his mistresses. In the alcove we had an impressive show of silverware, which the trusty was pleased to tell us was all fake. The real thing was held in the security of the Tower of London.
Does one gain credibility with one's mistress, in the course of a cosy candle-lit dinner, by saying that the silverware was so valuable that it had to be faked? Or would one do better just to discretely allude to its being solid silver. Perhaps by complaining about the thumb print the flunkey had left on it while polishing.
We were reminded how dark these dark-panelled rooms must have been before the days of electric light, even during the day time. A whole different dining experience. The good news being that being candle lit in the dark favoured the aging complexion.
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| British Museum version |
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| Wikipedia version |
Looking him up afterwards, we found that he had a descendant, or at least a relative, William V of Orange, invited over by George III, who made a bit of a name for himself among the serving girls of Hampton Court Palace, giving rise to the cartoon above. Readers of an art historical bent are invited to explain why these two images are so different.
Reference 1: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/08/fake-109.html.
Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampton_Court_Beauties. It seems the status of the ladies in question is a vexed question.
Reference 3: The Orangerie - H. Humphrey - 1796.
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