Wilhelmina was the only child of William III and his second wife Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont. Her birth was anxiously awaited, as the children from the King's first marriage had all died. After the death of William III, Queen Emma acted as her daughter's regent. After Wilhelmina came of age on 31 August 1898, she was crowned queen in Amsterdam. 'Wilhelmina trees' were planted in different places in the Netherlands to celebrate this occasion. One of these, a lime tree, has graced the boys' courtyard of the former Civic Orphanage, now the Amsterdam Historical Museum, for more than a century. The artist's widow probably gave this plaster-cast portrait bust to the city of Amsterdam after his death. A bronze patinated version is also in the collection of the museum. This statute can be considered a preliminary study for a marble portrait bust that Bart van Hove made for the former new Central Post Office on Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, close to Dam Square. There is a slightly different version in the Rijksmuseum, also in marble.