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Monteith, probably Delft, tin-glazed earthenware, painted with indecipherable marks in cobalt blue on base, ca. 1695. 6 3⁄4 x 131⁄4 in. (17.15 x 33.66 cm), 67.103, Historic Deerfield, Deerfield, Massachusetts. Photography by Penny Leveritt

Fashion Informs Function: The Fantastical Monteith

This odd-looking Dutch Delftware form is called a “monteith.” Monteiths were large bowls with scalloped rims that allowed wineglasses to suspend in chilled water. Their first appearance in 1683 is described by Oxford diarist Anthony à Wood (1632-1695), who wrote: “This yeare in the summer time came up a vessel or bason notched at the…

The Delft Collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

The initial donation of a Delft eighteenth century plate in 1882 to the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art (renamed the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1918) provided the foundation for a collection of Dutch earthenware that now numbers over one hundred andtwenty five pieces. The unusual orange and blue decoration of this circa…

Delftware Nursery Set

Polychrome Petit Feu Nursery Set

Every month we present a special object from the Aronson Antiquairs’ collection. This month we would like to show this polychrome petit feu nursery set. This delicately painted nursery set was made around 1725 in the city of Delft. It comprises a cradle, a high chair, a baby walker and a so-called 'bakermand' (nursery basket),…

Fragrant Blue; The Scent of Floral Delft

Blue and white vases with spouts filled with multi-colored flowers are a stunning visual sensation. Perhaps due to their exclusive ownership and the short-lived nature of flowers, only a few depictions exist of how these vases were used in the late seventeenth century. An important visual source for their use is seen on two embroidered…

Royal Tableware from the Age of William and Mary

By around 1660 the fame of the Delft faience potters had spread far beyond the borders of the Dutch Republic. Delft earthenware was a prized possession of European monarchs. One such example is provided by the Delft dishes with coats of arms created for the court of the powerful French king Louis XIV. Under this…

D2068 Polychrome and Gilded Delftware Flower plate

Polychrome Petit Feu and Gilded Plate

Every month we present a special object from the Aronson Antiquairs’ collection. This month we would like to show this polychrome petit feu and gilded plate. This delicately painted plate was made around 1730 in the city of Delft. It is executed in the so-called petit feu technique. The petit feu firing was one technique…

Pair of Blue and White Salt Cellars

Every month we present you a special object from the Aronson Antiquairs’ collection. This month, we would like to show you this pair of blue and white salt cellars marked for Lambertus van Eenhoorn from circa 1710. Salt has been an invaluable commodity for thousands of years, used to preserve and flavor food and traded as…

Blue and White Tobacco Box and Cover

Every month we present a special object from the Aronson Antiquairs’ collection. This month we would like to show you this blue and white tobacco box from circa 1765. A robust international trade network brought all types of exotic treasures to the Netherlands in the seventeenth century. The two major trading groups were the Dutch…

Painted Enamel on Ceramics – The Encounter of Dutch and Chinese Pottery

The blue-and-white ceramic was long sought and loved worldwide, particularly since the introduction of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain in Europe in the fifteenth century. The arrival of Chinese porcelain triggered European potters to produce imitations of this unique Chinese product since the seventeenth century. In Delft, the imitation process first occurred in about 1620-1630 when a…

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