In-depth Articles

Located in the Boulogne hinterland, Desvres has been producing pottery since Gallo-Roman times. The town, which now has a population of 5,000, welcomed its first earthenware factory in 1764–65, before seeing the rise of industrial-scale production during the nineteenth century, which peaked in the following century. Its famous tiles cemented its reputation well beyond the…

A robust international trade network brought all types of exotic treasures to the Netherlands in the seventeenth century. The two major trading groups were the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Dutch West India Company (WIC). These powerful entities discovered many treasures, commodities and delicacies from faraway lands that were uncommon at the time…

Delftware objects were commonly given as gifts to commemorate special occasions as early as the seventeenth century. During the reign of King William II and Queen Mary, Delftware objects were gifted to the nobility across Europe. The tradition continued even after the death of Mary in 1695, when King William gave many of the late…

The dinner table, as with all aspects of the decorative arts, is subject to changing fashions. As the structure of meals has evolved over time, the table settings and decoration have followed suit to complement the variations in each tradition. Beginning in the fifteenth century, a formal meal became increasingly divided into numerous courses. Typically,…

Despite the Portuguese importations of Asian goods starting in the early sixteenth century, Chinese porcelain was rarely seen in Europe before 1600. The small quantities of porcelain that were imported to Europe were rare and expensive, and almost exclusively collected by the nobility. In 1600, the market for Chinese porcelain changed significantly when the Dutch…

The extraordinary legacy behind the creation of the museum of Bailleul in 1859 is remarkably eclectic, while drawing on the identity of its collector, Benoît De Puydt. This collection testifies to a widespread phenomenon in nineteenth-century European bourgeois circles, and draws visitors into the world of a local personality. Born in the French commune of…

De Roos (The Rose) factory was built on the west side of Noordeinde street in Delft in 1661. A lease from 1662 offers an early glimpse of a well-run company in its infancy. The lease states that for example the tenant was obliged to maintain the kiln with certain tools and to take care of…

In 1911, Albert Evenepoel (1835–1911) bequeathed his formidable collection of Dutch earthenware to the Museum of Decorative and Industrial Art in his home town. This generosity was the culmination of a life dedicated to earthenware, and more specifically to the production of Delft in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Indeed, for over 40 years, the…

In 1677, Mary Stuart (1662-1694), daughter of James, Duke of York and future James II, arrived in Holland after a treacherous journey from England. She was fifteen years old, and had just married her cousin, William III, stadholder of Holland. With her animated and personable demeanor, the Dutch people quickly developed an adoration for Queen…

The Tudor rose, which is sometimes also called the Union rose, is the traditional floral heraldic emblem of England. Its name and origins come from the House of Tudor, which united the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The Tudor rose consists of five white inner petals, representing the House of York, and…