From Delft to Desvres, an unprecedented exhibition in the North of France

From April to September 2018, six exhibitions in the North of France will make you travel! These six museums teamed up to tell the visitor about the marvelous travel of faience and its motifs.

Each exhibition will unveil a part of the Northern Europe faience’s rich history, from the Dutch 16th-century majolicas to 19th-century productions, through various ceramic centers such as Delft, Desvres or Gand.

This project would not have been possible without the loans of two Belgium collectors of faience: Mark Adriaen and Piet Swimberghe. The first one started his collection at the end of the nineteenth century. After his death, his son and later his grand son who were also passionate about ceramics took over.

Each exhibition tackles a different theme, so that by seeing them all, the visitors gain an overall understanding of the Northern European production, its influences and  evolution.

The program : 

When the objects made in faience become paintings – Musée de la céramique, Desvres

14 April > 16 sept 2018

An invitation to discover the faience center of Devres and its main source of inspiration, the Dutch production. The museum reunited some pieces from Devres, from other centers from the North of France and Delft.

Figures on tiles – Musée de l’hôtel Sandelin, Saint-Omer

25 April > 29 July 2018

This exhibition is about the iconographic models that were used by the faience painters from North of France and the Low Countries. Most of the displayed objects are tiles.

The tile Odysseus, from the Mediterranean to the Northern sea – Musée Benoît-De-Puydt, Bailleul

4 April > 7 Octobre 2018

The museum chose to show the different sources of inspiration of several centers, including Delft, Fries and the North of France.

Beyond the decoration: To look at tiles the same way we look at paintings – Musée des Augustins, Hazebrouck

14 April – 16 Septembre 2018 –

The event is about tile decoration, their richness and the painters inventiveness.

An original contribution in the faience history – Musée de la vie frontalière, Godewaersvelde

1er April > 31 Oct. 2018

The exhibition retraces the history of Henri Adriaen’s collection.

The tools of the faience decorator – Site du Steenmeulen, Terdeghem

1 April > 30 sept. 2018

A very diverse collection of tools formerly used for making faience.