--Previous Message-- : Untl 1852 the State Regalia of the Sultanate : of Bandjermasin was in use by the Sultan. : After 1852 there were problems with the : succession in the Sultanate, pretenders : disputing each other. In 1859 the Dutch : colonial Government took over the power in : Bandjermasin and seized the properties of : the Sultan. Among the spoils there was a : rough diamond weighing 70 carats. Named the : Bandjermasin Diamond, it was decided to send : the impressive sized diamond to the Museum : of Natural History in Leyden for public : display. Yet, for some reason, the museum’s : board of directors rejected the specimen. : : After recovering from the rebuke, the : Department of Colonies tried to sell the : diamond. The Department learned that there : were no buyers for this diamond. Believing : it was the size of the Banjdermasin that was : scaring off suitors, the diamond was : submitted to the firm of E. and J. Israëls : in Amsterdam for cutting. The result : produced a squarish-shaped 40 carat white : diamond. The reduced sized diamond still did : not attract a buyer. : : The Department of Colonies then planned to : display the now altered diamond at the : Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam as an historical : item. This was abandoned because the : Rijksmuseum decided that the changed (and : therefore “new”) diamond had no historical : significance. The stone was again turned : over to E. and J. Israëls, this time with : instructions to sell it. This was : unsuccesful and finally in 1902 the diamond : was returned to the Department of Colonies. : : Meanwhile, in another part of the Dutch East : Indies, the jewels from the Rajah of Lombok : were confisquated and displayed at the : Rijksmuseum. It is during this display of : the Lombok jewels at the Rijksmuseum that : the Bandjermasin Diamond finally made its : appearance. : : When the Republic of Indonesia was : established in 1949, the Dutch government : negotiated the return of almost all : confiscated jewelry. Ironically, the : disrespected Bandjermasin was not amongst : these, remaining the property of the State : of the Netherlands only to be stored away : for many years in a vault unviewed by : anyone. It is not until 2001 that the : Bandjermasin finally reappeared at an : exhibition Musée National d’Historie : Naturelle in Paris. Since that time it is : publicly displayed at the Rijksmuseum in : Amsterdam. : : For the good order, the Indian treasures and : jewels in the collection of the : Orange-Nassaus were all gifts from the : Sultans, Rajahs and Emirs to the : Kings/Queens of the 'Motherland' and were no : part of confisquating policies by the State : of the Netherlands. : : Bandjermasin Diamond : : : There is a special "Indian Hall" : at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague were some : of the very valuable gifts from "the : East" to the Orange-Nassaus in the past : 400 years are privately displayed (for the : royal family only). : : : : : :
on November 30, 2011, 6:54 pm, in reply to "