Fine 18^th Century Porcelain Copenhagen Ribbon Plate Aalholm Slot Castle Denmark

A lovely quality ribbon plate, finely hand painted with a whole melon to the centre, melon slice, grapes flowers and foliage.
The red border bears further fruit and foliage within a double gold lined border.

Provenance: This came directly from Aalholm Slot Castle in Denmark and was retained by the family before the Sotheby’s sale of 1996


This plate formed part of a large service commissioned by the family.

Size: 24 cm in diameter

Condition: Minor losses to the detailing as usual. No cracks, hairlines or repairs.

Aalholm Slot Castle

Aalholm Castle is a castle and country estate in Nysted in the municipality of Guldborgsund, on the south coast of the island of Lolland, Denmark. It is the oldest castle on the island, first mentioned in 1329. The main building was built in 1300–1585, with major rebuilding especially in 1768 and in 1889 under Hans Jorgen Holm and Gotfred Tvede. Inscriptions in the building show that it was originally completed in 1585.

The castle was initially the seat of the king's vassal or lensmand, and thus the centre of local government. It is not known when the castle was founded, but for historical reasons, it was probably around 1200. During this period, a number of royal castles were built across the country to strengthen the king's power in the regions and guard against attack. They include Koldinghus, Riberhus, Copenhagen castle, Naesbyhoved Castle near Odense, Sonderborg and Nordborg on the island of Als, Tarnborg near Korsør, Nyborg, Gurre Castle and Soborg in the north of Zealand, Ravnsborg in northern Lolland and many more.

Aalholm was located on a very favorable site, standing on a little island in the inlet known as Nysted Nor. Completely surrounded by water, it was protected from the open sea although ships of all kinds could sail right up to the island, provided they had crews conversant with the channel to be followed. Not far to the north and west, there was fertile land where produce could be grown for the castle, with a surplus for the vassal and the king. Moreover, Nysted Nor was the only suitable site for a building of the kind between Nakskov in the south of Lolland and Stubbekobing in the northeast of Falster.

The importance of the area at the time can also be appreciated from the fact that the Franciscan monastery in Nysted, built in 1286, was the only one on the islands, especially as the Franciscans always settled in thriving, populated areas where they could rely on the support of the inhabitants.

However, it is impossible to trace the early history of the castle as there are no written sources and any archaeological evidence is hidden beneath today's building. The castle has been built and rebuilt even since it was founded. The oldest part of the existing building is the north wing, thought to date from the 14th and 15th centuries. Thereafter, there is plenty of documentation on restoration and refurbishment, sometimes also revealing the poor state of the building. For example, in the 1550s, bricks from the Franciscan monastery were used to repair the castle while after the Swedish Wars of 1657-1660, the building had no windows and the towers no roofs. In the 18th century, parts of the south wing were demolished and the east wing was fully renovated. In 1889, a further section of the south wing was pulled down and two new lateral wings were added on the south side of the north wing. As a result, the once rectangular structure now took on a shape resembling a pair of spectacles. Since then there have been no significant changes to the castle's exterior.

In the 1970s, parts of the castle were opened to the public as a museum, while the former owner established a vintage car museum on Stubberup Farm about one kilometer to the west of the castle. In connection with the sale of the castle and estate in 1995, all the furnishings were auctioned off while the new owner took over the automobile museum. The museum was closed in 2008 owing to the poor state of the buildings. The cars were sold by RM Auctions on August 12, 2012, realizing sales of 10.2 million Euros.