D2563. Pair of Blue and White and Gilded Figures of Cows

Delft, circa 1770

Each marked with AP in blue for Anthonij Pennis, owner of De Twee Scheepjes (The Two Little Ships), factory from 1764 to 1770, and later by his widow, Pennis-Overgaauw, from 1770 to 1782

Each with a blue-spotted hide, blue horns, muzzle, forelock, ear linings, spine, tail, and hooves with gilding, wearing garlands of flowers around its neck and back, and modeled affronté, standing foursquare on a rectangular base molded on the top with frogs and leaves, its canted sides with panels of fruiting foliage and the corners with scale-work.

DIMENSIONS
Lengths: 22 cm. (8.9 in.);
Heights: 18.2 cm. (7.2 in.)

PROVENANCE
Dutch private collection, 2023

NOTE
Delftware cows are inspired by a long-standing Dutch tradition. The Delft potters drew inspiration from the seventeenth-century custom of the Gilde-os (Guild Ox) parade, an annual festivity organized by the Butcher’s Guild in the Netherlands on the feast day of St. Luke—the patron saint of butchers, traditionally represented by the apocalyptic winged ox. This grand procession showcased the guild’s finest bull or cow, lavishly adorned with floral garlands, ribbons, and gilded horns, often topped with oranges. The decorated animal was paraded through the streets, accompanied by drummers and pipers, followed by singing and dancing guild members and townspeople. Following the parade, the ox was butchered, its meat served at the guild’s celebratory feast, with a portion donated to the church and the local poor. This tradition gave rise to the Dutch saying, ‘De gilde-os is op parade,’ meaning ‘This is a real feast!’—a phrase signifying abundance and celebration.

The enduring imagery of the Gilde-os found its way into Delftware figurines a century later. Some Delftware cow models even include small frogs and snakes in the grass at their feet, a likely reference to Dutch proverbs and allegories associated with life’s fleeting nature. In Dutch folklore, the toad symbolizes mortality, reinforcing the ephemeral fate of the well-adorned but soon-to-be-slaughtered ox. Similarly, the Dutch proverb ‘Er schuilt een adder in het gras’ (‘There lurks a snake in the grass’)—meaning hidden danger or deception—may allude to the cow’s cruel destiny.

The metaphorical significance of the Butcher’s Guild parade is echoed in early Dutch literature. In his 1627 Sinne- en minnebeelden, the poet Jacob Cats (1577–1660) included an emblematic print of a Butcher’s Guild procession alongside a poem equating the ornately decorated, well-fed ox to the transient nature of wealth and prosperity. Nearly two centuries later, in De Volksvermaken (The People’s Pleasures, 1871), historian Jan ter Gouw provided a detailed account of the event: “The beast was draped with flowers and wreaths and its horns gilded; the drums and pipes came first; the guild banner was blowing in the air, the guild brothers cheerfully marched around it, and the townspeople followed along with humming and singing.”

Ter Gouw further noted that even after the dissolution of the medieval guild system, butchers preserved the tradition well into the nineteenth century. When a particularly large or prized animal was acquired, it was still ceremoniously adorned and led through the streets with festive music, enticing townspeople to order its meat. Though the guilds no longer officiated the practice, the name Gilde-os endured, becoming synonymous with excellence and abundance.

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