In-depth Articles

The Dutch East India Company (VOC) imported tens of millions of pieces of porcelain during the two centuries of its existence (1602-1799) and flooded the country with Chinese and Japanese tablewares. The Chinese porcelain introduced exotic imagery, such as depictions of dragons, temples and emperors. One can only imagine how enthralled the Dutch consumers must…

De Porceleyne Byl (The Porcelain Axe) factory was founded in 1657, and was almost entirely owned by a single person or couple for its entire existence. This contrasts with most other factories whose property was often divided among several people. It was purchased in 1657 by Jacob Wemmersz. Hoppesteyn, who two years later would also…

Soon after the introduction of expensive Chinese porcelain in the Netherlands, a demand arose for an attractive and affordable alternative. During the third quarter of the seventeenth century, Delft potters were able to expand the production of very refined faience for the higher end of the market after the limited importation of Asian porcelain by…

Beginning in the early 1680s, Delft potteries began to mark their wares with either the pottery owner’s initials or the name of the factory. Marks were applied for economic reasons, especially for foreign trade when the mark was a means of recognition and quality assurance, comparable with the modern trademark. The marking of objects contributed…

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries fine dining was an exceedingly important social ritual, and the accompanying accessories were reflective of the owner’s status. The well-laid table was the culmination of splendor. However, dining traditions changed during these centuries and the Delft potters quickly accommodated the new tastes of the nobility and the wealthy bourgeoisie…

From 1720 to 1750, the Delftware industry faced a number of difficulties that challenged the future of the market. The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) had serious consequences on the Dutch economy. This war, which mainly took place in the south of the country, embroiled all of the major powers of Europe and created…

The history of De Lampetkan, or De Porceleyne Lampetkan factory began in 1609, when Abraham Davidsz. Oosterhouck bought a house called ‘De Burcht van Leyden’ that he transformed into a pottery.1 The factory changed hands many times throughout the seventeenth century. Oosterhouck owned the factory until 1619, and then sold it to Cornelis Harmesz. Valckenhoff,…

In Delft most factories produced both a high-end line of decorative objects and useful wares and a low-end selection of common utensils, which, ironically, are rarer today because they were used, worn out or damaged and then irreverently thrown away. What has survived today are generally the higher-end objects, in general more beautiful, more admired…

“Het volk redeloos, de regering radeloos en het land reddeloos” (The people were irrational; the government desperate and the country irretrievable), no this is not a recent quote, it is a phrase that was coined to describe the state of Holland in 1672. In Dutch history, the year 1672 has from that time to present been known as “Het Rampjaar”…

Birds occur frequently and for a variety of reasons in art, as symbols, decoration or objects of study. The symbolism of birds differs in different period and regions. Birds are often encountered in seventeenth-century Dutch genre scenes, in which they usually have a sexual connotation because the Dutch word ‘vogelen’ (birding) means to engage in…