Thursday, April 16, 2015

Delftware

What land is this? Yon pretty town Is Delft
with all its wares displayed:
The pride, the market-place, the crown
And centre of the Potter's trade.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


Delftware (or Delft Blue) is blue and white tin-glazed pottery made in Delft, the Netherlands beginning in 1602. At its height, there were 33 Delft Blue factories open. Today, Royal Delft is the only 17th century factory still in operation. (They do still paint them by hand.)

Plate, 1727, Delft, Netherlands, tin-glazed earthenware
Exhibit in the Art Institute of Chicago

Bombardment of Dunkirk August 11, 1695 by the fleets of England and Holland
Museum of Fine Arts in Dunkirk
Cornelis Boumeester

Window display of Delftware in the market place, Delft
Kim Traynor

Bench Hommage aan Gaudi
by Chris Dagradi, Delft - Prinsenhof in the Netherlands

Eighteenth century plate, National Ceramics Museum (Sèvres, Hauts-de-Seine, France)

Tulipvase (Delft), 1700-1800
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen

Dish with judgment of Solomon (Delft), 1645
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen

Delft blue tiles, Portugal
Rory Hyde

3 comments:

HWY said...


Wonderful examples of Delftware...such variety!

The tulip vase is especially interesting in view of the tulip mania in the Dutch Golden Age.

The bench was extraordinary and the tiles on the building in Portugal is truly a sight to behold.

Retta said...

I LOVE delft ceramic ware! Something about that shade of blue with the white. And to think, they still hand paint them. Wow.

I have to laugh... before I read the description, I thought that tulip vase was the base for a hookah!

My favorite is that stunning wall in Portugal. Just... wow!!

Liz Steinglass said...

Gorgeous. I especially love the bench and the building. I've never seen anything like that.