Hand-coloured aquatint view of the royal palace of Soestdijk. Originally built as a country estate in the 1650s, Soestdijk became the property of the Dutch-British king William III and his heirs before becoming a royal palace under King Louis Bonaparte. In 1815 the palace was gifted to the Prince of Orange (later King William II) in recognition of his services during the Battle of Waterloo.
The palace was drawn by Cornelis de Kruyff (1774-1828), who is primarily known for several drawings of Amsterdam. In 1824 he exhibited two drawings of the royal palaces of Het Loo and Soestdijk, the latter of which was probably the model for this aquatint, at the art exhibition in Amsterdam. The firm of Buffa and sons would publish prints after drawings by De Kruyff of several royal palaces in the 1820s, first as smaller engravings in Vues choisies dAmsterdam et ses environs (1824-1825) and later as larger aquatints.
Christiaan Frederik Bierweiler (1783-after 1831) was an Amsterdam-born engraver who spent most of the first quarter of the 19th century abroad. Only returning to Amsterdam in 1827, it is probably that he prepared the current print after 1827.
In good condition. For Bierweiler: Scheen 1981, p. 42; for De Kruyff: Scheen 1981, p. 294; Van Eijnden & Van der Willigen III, p. 160 & IV, pp. 205-206; cf. Atlas van Stolk 5924; Landwehr, Coloured plates 339.