Discover the entire color palette of Delftware
While the antiques gained attention from both national and international collectors and researchers, the modern factories grew their assortment and also produced similar objects with other color schemes and named them accordingly, i.e. Delft Red or Delft Green. The blue and white objects were however much more sought after and the name ‘Delft Blue’ stuck. The name soon became interchangeable between the modern and antique ceramics, however we refer to the antique objects as ‘Delftware’.
In turn, the popular term ‘Delft Blue’ means that nowadays many people are surprised that factories in Delft also made multi-colored, or polychrome objects in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The expanded range of colors, mainly after 1700, was rapidly supplemented by a range of forms, decorations and firing techniques. This is how Delft remained the market leader throughout most of the eighteenth century. Swipe to discover the entire color palette of Delftware.
Majolica can be distinguished from Delftware not only by the clear glaze on the reverse, revealing the buff-colored body of the clay, but also by the three small spots of glaze damage on the front (prunt marks). These marks were created when the pieces were stacked on top of one another in the kiln, separated by ceramic triangles that were broken away after the firing. In that process, the point where the triangles had rested left a small unglazed mark. Majolica objects were often decorated with Southern European patterns, such as colorful fruits derived from Italian grotesque ornaments.
OBJECT NO. D1902
Although it is impossible to identify and attribute the work of the forty-five potters in Haarlem, there is one exception: the wares of Willem Jansz. Verstraeten, who is considered the most important potter in Haarlem during the second quarter of the seventeenth century. The shape and aigrette border decoration of this charger are characteristic for the workshop of Verstraeten.
Circa 1630
Diameter: 33 cm. (13 in.)
€6.800
OBJECT NO. D1023
Circa 1655
Diameter: 38.6 cm. (15.2 in.)
€16.500
OBJECT NO. D1985
Circa 1690
Height: 17 cm. (6.7 in.)
OBJECT NO. D0605
Circa 1685
Height: 36.5 cm. (14.4 in.)
€9.500
confituur-starren
’ (‘preserve sets’) were used to serve sweetmeats and other delicacies such as dried fruit or summer fruit deserved in brandy and were generally used during tea time.
OBJECT NO. D9007
confituur-starren
’ (‘preserve sets’) were used to serve sweetmeats and other delicacies such as dried fruit or summer fruit deserved in brandy and were generally used during tea time. The Delft potters did not only produce these elaborate sets; there are also compartmented sweetmeat dishes known, such as the present which has an Asian feel, being decorated with a peacock and a tiger amidst flowering shrubbery.Marked AK in blue for Adrianus Kocx, the owner of De Grieksche A (The Greek A) factory from 1686 to 1701
Circa 1690
Diameter: 25.4 cm. (10 in.)
€5.800
Although the Delft objects were named after the fashionable textiles, the Delft potters were in fact inspired by the Chinese famille verte porcelain wares of the Kangxi period (1662-1722), which arrived in Europe at the end of the seventeenth century. Delftware painters also looked beyond China for further inspiration in designing cashmere pieces. One such design source was the French baroque style that reigned during the age of King Louis XIV. Since the production of these elaborate reeded pieces was probably too expensive, the cashmere palette enjoyed a brief, yet widespread success during the first half of the eighteenth century.
OBJECT NO. D1828
The cover marked LVE 6 0 in iron-red for Lambertus van Eenhoorn, the owner of De Metaale Pot (The Metal Pot) factory from 1691 to 1721
Circa 1710
Heights: 22.9 to 29 cm. (9 to 11.4 in.)
Sold
OBJECT NO. D1918
Marked R in blue for De Roos (The Rose) factory within four four-dot clusters and three concentric lines
Circa 1700
Height: 21.3 cm. (8.4 in.)
€19.500
petit feu
firing was one technique that allowed Delft potters to expand their color palette, and was first used in the early eighteenth century. The technique requires three firings, allowing the potter to use colors that could not withstand high temperatures in the kiln during the second firing (grand feu). The gold and enamel paints were applied after the biscuit firing, followed by the tin glazing and the transparent glaze that added extra gloss (with or without grand feu
decorations). With the petit feu
colors on top of the glaze, the objects were fired again at a lower temperature (about 600 degrees Celsius) in a smaller kiln known as the moffeloven (muffle kiln). The earliest known Delft petit feu
decorations on white earthenware date from after 1720.
OBJECT NO. D1618
Petit Feu
Polychrome and Gilded Puzzle Jug‘suijgkan’
(‘suction-jug’) in inventory lists of factories and potters’ shops, a term that hints at the solution to the puzzle. Circa 1730
Height: 19.6 cm. (7.7 in.)
€16.000
Within the wide range of East Asian porcelain color varieties, this type of decoration is only a temporary fringe. In the early eighteenth century, Milk and Blood porcelain was imported from East Asia in lower quantities than blue and white or famille verte wares. Moreover, the importation from China by Dutch traders occurred in a short period from 1700 to 1730. Although Chinese Milk and Blood porcelain wares are not uncommon, Delftware objects with a decoration painted only in iron-red and gold are extremely rare.
OBJECT NO. D1919
Circa 1710
Diameter: 35.1 cm. (13.8 in.)
€9.500
Another obstacle was the adaptation of the red clay to the familiar production techniques of the Delft potters. The Chinese potters traditionally formed their pots by modeling slabs of clay with their hands, whereas the Dutch potters were accustomed to throwing their vessels on a wheel, resulting in circular, ovoid or cylindrical shapes. Fortunately for the Delft potters, wheel-throwing created forms suitable for teapots, but it explains why so few other forms were created in this red clay body.
OBJECT NO. D8827
Marked with the impressed oval of JACOBUS DE CALUWE enclosing a running deer
Circa 1710
Height: 10.4 cm. (4.1 in.)
Sold
bleu persan
.
OBJECT NO. D1723
bleu persan
. The Delftware that followed the style of Persian blue ceramics enjoyed a brief popularity around 1700, and examples are rare to survive. The blue ground wares produced by De Paauw (The Peacock) factory are very close to the Nevers ceramics. They share a depth of color, as well as the characteristic lotus flowers and irises that decorate the bodies. Under the leadership of David Kam and his widow, De Paauw specialized in the Persian blue color scheme, and this ewer fits within the factory’s outstanding style. Circa 1700
Height: 19 cm. (7.5 in.)
Sold
OBJECT NO. D1725
Circa 1710
Height: 19.2 cm. (7.6 in.)
Length: 21.4 cm. (8.4 in.)
€18.000
petit feu
palette and its success pushed the Delft potters to improve the grand feu
palette, of which the colors became more intense, with new tones and shades.
OBJECT NO. D1981
grand feu
colors reappeared. The development of the petit feu
palette and its success pushed the Delft potters to improve the grand feu
palette, of which the colors became more intense, with new tones and shades. The transparent turquoise glaze was amongst the new colors, which has a luminosity comparable to glass, and evokes the Seldjoukide ceramics from thirteenth-century Iran.Circa 1775
Diameter: 16.8 cm. (6.6 in.)
OBJECT NO. D1955
Marked JvDuijn in manganese for Johannes van Duijn, the owner of De Porceleyne Schotel (The Porcelain Dish) factory from 1764 to 1772, or his widow Van Duijn-van Kampen, the owner from 1772 to 1773
Circa 1770
Height: 26.5 cm. (10.4 in.)
€38.000
OBJECT NO. D1959
Circa 1775
Lengths: 14.4 cm. (5.7 in.)
€28.000
OBJECT NO. D1343
One marked with an axe in iron-red for De Porceleyne Byl (The Porcelain Axe) factory
Circa 1765
Heights: 16.3 cm. (6.4 in.)
€29.500
petit feu
firing was one technique that allowed Delft potters to expand their color palette. The technique requires three firings, allowing the potter to use colors that could not withstand high temperatures in the kiln during the second firing (grand feu
). The gold and enamel paints were applied after the biscuit firing, the tin glazing and the transparent glaze that added extra gloss (with or without grand feu
decorations). With the
petit feu
colors on top of the glaze, the objects were fired again at a lower temperature (about 600 degrees Celsius / 1100 degrees Fahrenheit) in a smaller kiln known as the moffeloven
(muffle kiln). The painted objects were very colorful and delicate, however the additional firing made them expensive to produce and sell. Although the initial source of inspiration for the petit feu
enamel painting came from Kakiemon porcelain, by the 1740s the taste had turned towards Meissen porcelain and its scenes of fashionable European figures in landscapes in the manner of the French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721).
OBJECT NO. D1923
Petit Feu
Butter Tubs, Covers and Stands
Unidentified VA mark in blue, possibly for De Drie Posteleyene Astonne (The Three Porcelain Ash-Barrels) also sometimes referred to as De Vergulde Astonne (The Gilded Ash-Barrels) factory
Circa 1740
Heights: 9.4 cm. (3.7 in.)
Lengths: 18.2 cm. (7.2 in.)
€26.500
OBJECT NO. D1922
Petit Feu
Heart-Shaped Sweetmeat Dishes
Circa 1740
Diameter whole set: 23.5 cm. (9.3 in.)
€19.500
grand feu
and petit feu
colors, the cold painted wares were not fired after they were painted and therefore more economical. Several factories tried this technique, but the new method was met with resistance. The cold painted process required less work for the factory painters because the painting was executed by 'kladschilders
,' artists working with oil-paint. It is extremely rare to find objects that are still completely decorated in the cold paint technique, since at the beginning of the twentieth century scarce fragments of cold painted decoration were removed.
a compendiario en grand feu
", a style of painting adapted from mid sixteenth-century Faenza majolica executed in a palette of blue, yellow and orange on a pure white glaze.
OBJECT NO. D1223
Marked / D PAUW 2 in blue for De Paauw (The Peacock) factory
Circa 1700
Diameter: 26 cm. (10.2 in.)
€6.500
OBJECT NO. D1964
Circa 1775
Lengths: 25.7 and 24 cm. (10.1 and 9.4 in.)
€16.500
Although the white, undecorated ceramic objects were less expensive to produce than the blue and polychrome Delftware, the objects were initially only affordable to the upper class. By the end of the seventeenth century, white Delftware was more commonplace and affordable as factories produced greater numbers of white kitchenwares for everyday use. The factories also manufactured decorative white objects of figures and animals that were displayed on a mantelpiece.
OBJECT NO. D1983
Circa 1770
Heights: 17.8 cm. (7 in.)
€11.500
wapengoet
’ or ‘armorial wares’, which were often commissioned for special occasions, such as a birth or a wedding.
OBJECT NO. D1368
wapengoet
’ or ‘armorial wares’, which were often commissioned for special occasions, such as a birth or a wedding. Initially these objects bear the coats of arms of cities, before they were marked with the coats of arms of families. However, objects bearing the coat of arms of cities stayed popular throughout the centuries, as can be seen in this set of tobacco jars. The coat of arms on this set of tobacco jars was given by William I, Count of Holland and Hainaut, to Rotterdam in thanks for the support of the lords of the Court of Wena in its fight against Flanders in 1304. The lions in the arms are the two red Dutch lions and the two black Hainaut lions.Circa 1820
Heights: 25.4 to 26 cm. (10 to 10.2 in.)
€22.500