In-depth Articles

Dutch Delftware is also known by the popular term Delft Blue. The earliest Dutch Delftware was indeed only decorated in a blue colour, inspired by the Chinese Kraakporcelain which was traded by the VOC (see our newsletter of August). But this term is slightly inadequate, since Dutch Delftware is so much more extensive than only…

The arrival of the popular Chinese porcelain on the Dutch market had as result that the Delft Majolica potters had to invent new ways to bring their goods on the market. As they only created a limited choice of tableware (mostly plates, dishes and porringers) in contrast to the so sought after thin and shiny…

The many ships in the harbour of Amsterdam during the five-yearly nautical event ‘Sail’ remind of old times, when ships from all over the world arrived in the Netherlands, loaded with exotic treasures. Thanks to the VOC and WIC the Dutch came into contact with all kinds of exotic products, such as spices, sugar and…

Although the origins of Dutch Delftware lay partly in majolica, which was based on southern European models, the seventeenth century also shows a strong Chinese influence on the Dutch pottery. This has of course everything to do with the arrival of the Chinese porcelain on the Dutch market in the same century, which had an…

Everyone knows the blue and white vases, plates and dishes, which were made in the seventeenth and eighteenth century in the city of Delft inspired by and sometimes direct imitations of Chinese porcelain. Although the arrival of the Chinese porcelain by the Dutch East India Company in the early seventeenth century influenced Dutch pottery enormously,…