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Musée de la Céramique de Desvres

Delftware as Inspiration for Northern French Ceramic Centers

Seventeenth and eighteenth-century Delftware was inspired by many other ceramic centers. Sources of influence included Southern European wares, such as maiolica and Faenza, the much coveted Chinese porcelain wares and later the Northern European ceramic centers, such as Nevers and Meissen. Of course, Delftware was also inspirational for these same ceramic centers. Some examples of…

Painting by Johannes Vermeer city of Delft

The City of Delft in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

Nowadays, the city of Delft is synonymous with its earthenware that was produced in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Although it is still somewhat of a mystery why Delft became one of the main centers of faience production in the seventeenth century, it is interesting to explore the social, political and cultural climate in which…

Polychrome recumbent Delftware cows

Pair of Polychrome Figures of Recumbent Cows

Every month we present a special object from the Aronson Antiquairs’ collection. This month we would like to show this pair of polychrome figures of recumbent cows, made in Delft around 1765. The Delft potters were inspired by a seventeenth-century tradition. Each year the Butcher’s guild in Holland would hold a parade on the day…

polychrome plate with beautiful butterflies at Aronson Antiquairs

De Drie Porceleyne Flessies (The Three Porcelain Bottles) Factory

De Drie Porceleyne Flessies (The Three Porcelain Bottles) factory was established in 1661. Like many of the other Delftware factories, De Drie Porceleyne Flessies was recognizable by a sign on its facade, which was described as ‘drije porceleijne flessen’ (three porcelain bottles) in a deed of 1665.1 The sign was still visible a hundred years…

Theepot De Metaale Pot Delfts aardewerk

Van Verschuer’s Delftware Collection

There were three major collectors of Delftware in the nineteenth century. The two well-known figures are John F. Loudon (1821-1895) and A.H.H. van der Burgh (1845-1904), however there was a third lesser known nobleman baron Willem Frederik Karel van Verschuer (1845-1922). Despite his relative obscurity in history, his collection outnumbered Loudon and van der Burgh,…

blue and white chinoiserie charger

Blue and White Chinoiserie Charger

Every month we present a special object from the Aronson Antiquairs’ collection. This month we would like to show you this blue and white chinoiserie charger.  This chinoiserie style charger depicts the preparation of tea using two different sizes of teapots. The large teapot functioned as a kettle to heat the water. The water was…

Delftware dog figures

Pair of Blue and White Figures of Seated Dogs

Every month we present a special object from the Aronson Antiquairs’ collection. This month we would like to show the Delft potter's interpretation of their beloved four-legged friends. Dogs have been beloved human companions for thousands of years. In ancient Egypt, dogs were used for hunting, and they were domesticated over 10,000 years ago in the Far…

Detail of the dollhouse of Petronella Oortman, ca. 1686 - ca. 1710, Rijksmueum, Amsterdam

Dollhouses and Delftware Miniatures

According to the French anthropologist and ethnologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, miniature, that is to say the reproduction of an object in a reduced scale, is an art work that changes our relationship to the world. Its small size allows us to apprehend the object as a whole, as miniatures have an “intrinsic aesthetic quality”. They change…

Delftware vase on yellow background

De Paauw (The Peacock) Factory

In 1651 De Paauw (The Peacock) factory was established. Painted on the facade of the building was the founding year and a beautiful blue and black peacock. The symbol became a trademark for the factory and was repeatedly used as a decorative motif on objects. When the factory first opened, it operated with only one…

Antique red stoneware teapots explained by Aronson Antiquairs

Red Stoneware Teapot

Every month we present a special object from the Aronson Antiquairs’ collection. This month we would like to show this red stoneware teapot from circa 1715, which was made by Jacobus de Caluwe. Although the trade of Chinese porcelain by the VOC (Dutch East India Company) became difficult from around 1650, because of the civil unrests…

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