Dutch Delftware podcast

Flower vase, Dutch Delftware, circa 1690

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:19:54 +0100

Blue and White Large Oval Flower Vase
Delft, circa 1686-95

The two largest bowls marked AK in blue for Adrianus Kocx, the owner of De Grieksche A (The Greek A) Factory from 1686 until 1701, and incised on the largest bowl I, and on the central bowl 2.

Comprising three tiers in ﬁve pieces: the upper section a bowl with an integral cover surmounted by a spherical spout painted with two rosettes and two quatrefoil blossoms and foliage above a border of trefoils, the rim of the cover with rosettes and floral sprigs alternating with six spouts formed as open-mouthed stag’s heads, and the same rosettes alternating with panels of flowering shrubbery within four panels on the bowl between trefoil borders on its rim and foot; the central section similarly decorated and bordered, but the cover with eight stag’s head spouts surrounding a central oval depression painted with a flowering rose branch, and the bowl with dotted blue S-scroll handles at the ends interrupting a painted border of fluting around the lower body; and the massive lower section: its ogee-shaped foot and its cover also painted with rosettes and flowering shrubbery alternating on the cover with ten stag’s head spouts, the depressed center painted with an insect hovering and a bird perched on a flowering rose branch and surrounded by an anthemion and bellflower border repeated around the upper body and ankle of the compressed pear-shaped bowl below and in the center of the interior around an oval floral medallion, the interior of the neck with a border of stylized acanthus and bellflowers, the neck on the exterior with a border of scroll motifs beneath an everted rim bordered with flowerheads and beads and afﬁxed at the ends with handles formed as open-mouthed beasts decorated with leaves and interrupting a painted border of fluting around the lower body.

Height: 73.7 cm. (29 in.); width: 53 cm. (20 7/8 in.)

Provenance:
Almost certainly acquired by Lady Mary Mordaunt (1658/9-1705), Duchess of Norfolk and 7th Baroness Mordaunt, and her second husband Sir John Germain(e), 1st Baronet (1650-1718), for the King’s Dining Room, Drayton House, Lowick, Kettering, Northamptonshire;
to his appointed heir:
Lord George Germain(e), 1st Viscount Sackville and Baron Bolebrook (1716-1785), to his son:
Charles Sackville-Germain(e), 2nd Viscount Sackville of Drayton and 2nd Baron Bolebrooke, (1768-1843) who succeeded in 1815 as 5th Duke of Dorset and died unmarried, to his niece and sole heir:
Caroline Sackville, who in 1837 married George Stopford, and they took on the name Stopford-Sackville;
By Descent at Drayton House in the Stopford Sackville family (who are still the owners of the house);
Duncan H. McLaren Ltd., London, May 13, 1991;
The collection of Simon Sainsbury, Woolbeding House, Sussex

Literature:
Van Aken-Fehmers 2007, p. 16, pl. 5 (the largest bowl and cover only);
Lahaussois 2008, p. 103, ill. 6

Hoppesteyn Charger, Dutch Delftware, circa 1675-85

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:19:45 +0100

Polychrome and Gilded Charger
Delft, circa 1680-85

Marked IW in blue for Jacob Wemmersz. Hoppesteyn, who was the full owner of Het Moriaenshooft (The Moor’s Head) Factory from 1664 until 1671, succeeded by his widow Jannetge Claesdr. van Straten through 1686

Painted with a Chinese dignitary wearing a blue, gold and iron-red robe, seated on a manganese and green throne before a beaker vase of flowering prunus, a large jar and a censer, with a dragon-snake at his feet, and giving an audience to two warriors, one holding a sword, the other a scabbard and a tall fan, all within a border of chrysanthemum blossoms, foliate scrolls and flames interrupted by fourruyi heads issuing peony sprigs on either side of narrow panels decorated with grotesque masks flanked by further ruyi heads and alternating with four blue- and gilt-edged lappets centering various arrangements of small tables, vases, jars and other vessels, the slightly scalloped and barbed edge encircled by a gilt line, and the underside of the rim painted in blue with branches of peaches or flowering prunus within four ruyi-shaped lappets alternating with smaller branches of peonies within lines encircling the rim edge and footrim.

Diameter: 39 cm. (153/8in.)

The Delft factory, Het Moriaenshooft (The Moor's Head), is renowned for its high quality Delftware produced during its ownership by the Hoppesteyn family from 1659 until 1692. It was one of the first Delft factories in the late seventeenth century to experiment with polychrome decoration. After applying the underglaze-blue decoration and additional colors, such as yellow, green and purple (manganese), at 950º C, the iron-red and gilding were fired at successively lower temperatures. This so-called 'mixed technique' is thought to have been developed around 1680, when Jacob Hoppesteyn's widow Jannetge managed the business. Hoppesteyn pieces marked IW for Jacob Wemmersz. Hoppesteyn and his widow, or marked RIHS for their son Rochus, are considered a technicaltour de forcefor their time.

The objects that Het Moriaenshooft produced were intended mostly for Europe's royalty or noble elite. The factory developed a reputation for products of great refinement, with a particularly milky white glaze and soft blue painting. The distinct decorating style can be recognized also by scrollwork borders. Hoppesteyn pieces can be found decorated with either European subjects, such as Greek mythology or Dutch interior scenes, or chinoiserie patterns with or without Oriental figures. Interestingly, a characteristic of the chinoiseries of Jacob Hoppesteyn seems to be the use of manganese, which is not found on pieces marked for his son Rochus. Although most of the objects marked for Rochus Hoppesteyn are decorated in colors with Oriental figures, it would appear that of the pieces marked IW, only one pair of vases and a jar

can be related to the polychrome chinoiserie decoration of the present charger. The pair of monumental baluster vases (figs. 1-3) in the Musée de la Chartreuse in Douai (inv. no. A. 1143), with its depiction of Delft flower-holders, is among the most illustrious pieces of Dutch Delftware known. The charger is linked to these vases by the use of the same poncils for elements of its composition, including the flower vase and the seated Chinese dignitary (figs. 2-3). The grotesque mask design in the border of the charger also is incorporated in the lambrequins on the shoulder of the Douai vases, and is a frequent border design element for Hoppesteyn pieces. The second IW-marked piece related to this charger is a large polychrome chinoiserie jar (fig. 4, inv. no. Ev. 39) in the collection of the Musées royaux d’Art et d’Histoire in Brussels, illustrated by Helbig, Vol. I, p. 96, fig. 65.

The Brussels museum is particularly rich in Hoppesteyn pieces, among which is an unmarked polychrome pierced basket (inv. no. Ev.80) decorated with a chinoiserie pattern, which can be attributed to Jacob Wemmersz. Hoppesteyn. The collection also contains an IW-marked blue and white large chinoiserie bowl (inv. no. 6207) decorated with a scroll-work border similar to the scrollwork on this charger. This same motif is repeated on the shoulder of an IW-marked polychrome jar with scrollwork cartouches in the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, illustrated by Van Aken-Fehmers, 1999, cat. no. 75, p. 208.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has an interesting pair of polychrome bottle vases with a fan-bearing warrior and dignitary in a shield-shaped cartouche enclosed by scrollwork, which relates to this charger and is illustrated by Neurdenburg, 1944, ill. 81. The bottle vases are attributed to Hoppesteyn, but unfortunately the bases, possibly IW-marked, are missing.

A polychrome IW-dish with a mythological scene of Diana and Actaeon to the centre and a paneled ‘Kraak’-border, with a diameter of 34 cm., is illustrated in Aronson, 1993, ill. 2. A dish marked RIHS for son Rochus, with a diameter of 34 cm., in the collection of the Nationalmuseum of Stockholm, Sweden, is illustrated by Ressing, 1991, pp. 22-23, ills. 10 and 11. This impressive charger is painted in blue across the whole surface after Chinese examples with branches, stylized flowers and peaches.

Provenance:
By repute this charger was the property of Schloss Spielberg in Austria, and already recorded in the early nineteenth-century inventory of the Arbesser family, who remained the owners through 2006. The charger is said to have been presented to the Schloss owners by the Habsburg royal family in the eighteenth century after two daughters of Empress Maria Theresa (1717-80) stayed at the castle during two separate journeys.

Early Berchem Plaque, Dutch Delftware, 1670-80

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:18:34 +0100

A Blue and White Rectangular Plaque
Delft, circa 1670-80

Painted in hues of soft blue with a gentleman wearing a plumed hat, holding a long riﬂe and conversing with a lady seated on a horse near another lady seated on the ground at his feet, to the left a donkey observing a peasant or traveler seated beneath a tree and drinking from a jug, and to the right two ﬁshermen hauling their nets before a distant cottage in a hilly landscape; the reverse unglazed.

Size: 27.2 x 37 cm. (10 11/16 x 14 9/16 in.)

Provenance:
The Collection of Jhr. J.W. Six van Vromade, sold at auction by Niekerk and Schlüter, Amsterdam, October 18, 1932, lot 217, and according to the pencil annotation in the margin of the catalogue, acquired for ﬂ 200,- by M. Huisman & Zn, Antiquairs, The Hague;
A Czech Private Collection, through 2008.

Exhibited:
Arnhem, the Gemeentemuseum (Historisch Museum, Arnhem), on loan before 1932, the dates unknown

Note:
The source of this plaque is the print ‘Riverbank with Fishermen Hauling in the Nets’ by Johannes Visscher (1633-after 1692), which is the ﬁrst in a series of four landscapes, the ﬁrst state of which is dated 1670.1 Visscher made the print after a drawing in reverse by Nicolaes Berchem (1621/22-1683) dating to circa 1665 to 1668.2 In her 1997 dissertation on Berchem drawings, Nicolaes Pietersz. Berchem, 1620-1683 : die Zeichnungen, p. 261 (II), the author Annemarie Stefes-Lincke remarks that although the class difference between the elegant city gentry and the simple country folk in this print is evident, Berchem also attains an unobtrusive differentiation between the social strata of the two ladies, separating them only by footwear: the ﬁne lady on horseback wearing elegant shoes in contrast to the bare feet of the seated shepherdess.

1 Hollstein XLI (1992), p. 81, no. 113.
2 Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, inv. no. PD.142-1963. Illustrated by Stefes-Lincke 1997, II, pp. 261-262, III, no. III/53.

Black Delftware, Delft, circa 1700-1720

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:12:07 +0100

In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, when the taste for the exotic thrived, a rare group of Dutch Delftware was produced with a black glaze. This socalled ‘Black Delftware’ was inspired by Oriental and subsequent European lacquer wares as well as the Chinese ‘famille noire’ porcelain from the Kangxi period (1662-1722).

Two techniques to produce this rare form of decoration can be distinguished. In the ﬁrst, the pieces were ﬁred initially with a layer of white tin glaze and applied with polychrome enamels before the blank areas around the decoration were ﬁlled in with a black glaze. Most marked objects belonging to this category were made in De Grieksche A (The Greek A) Factory during the ownership of Pieter Kocx from 1701 to 1703, or his widow Johanna van der Heul from 1703 to 1722. In the second technique, the pieces were covered completely in a black glaze and then the enamel decoration was applied onto the black ground itself. Marked objects from this category were produced mainly by De Metale Pot (The Metal Pot) Factory, owned by Lambertus van Eenhoorn from 1691 to 1724.

The color palette of the enamels included blue, green, red, yellow and white, and the color scheme could be either polychrome or monochrome yellow-ochre. In the latter case this goldish-yellow color imitated gilded lacquer, largely from Japan, or ‘famille noire’ porcelain from China. To emphasize the Oriental appeal of ‘Black Delftware’, the decoration variously included floral chinoiseries with chrysanthemum branches and perched birds or Oriental gardens or landscapes. Seventeenth-century travel accounts by Olfert Dapper and Johann Nieuhoff also have proved to be important graphic sources for ﬁgural chinoiseries.

The known shapes in ‘Black Delftware’ include tea wares, such as teacups and saucers, teapots and coffee pots, as well as garnitures, flower vases, ewers with dishes, brush backs, dishes and plaques. In a few cases the black color was also used to enhance the color palette of European ﬁgures, such as the horse and rider. The technique to produce a true black colored glaze was extremely difﬁcult. Mrs. M. van Aken-Fehmers in 2006 refers to a recipe of the 1679 by German scientist Johann Kunckel (1631/34-1703) for a black glaze used by Dutch “porcelain painters” in which “he advices: that if the surface color should turn brownish-black instead of the intended black, more saffre (cobalt oxide) should be added.” (p. 43). At present, there are only about 65 pieces of ‘Black Delftware’ known in the world.

Robert D. Aronson explains rare antique 'Black Delft' delftware, dated between 1700 and 1720. Taped at TEFAF Maastricht 2009. For more information, please see http://www.aronson.com