Delft, circa 1770

Each marked in blue with an axe for De Porceleyne Byl (The Porcelain Axe) factory

Both painted in the center with a scaly herring within a border of leaves and scrolls on the scalloped and barbed edge of the chamfered rectangular rim.

DIMENSIONS
Lengths: both 23.3 cm. (9.2 in.)

PROVENANCE
The Kitty Valkier-Schreurs Collection, Belgium;
Aronson Antiquairs, Amsterdam

LITERATURE
Described and illustrated in Aronson 2019, pp. 144-145, no. 73

NOTE
DHerring dishes are a longstanding part of the Dutch tradition of herring consumption, where herring is typically served with chopped raw onions and pickles. The Dutch have been eating herring for over a millennium, initially fishing for personal use. However, around the year 1000, commercial herring fishing emerged, spurred by the abundance of herring shoals in the North Sea. Coastal fishing villages quickly developed, taking advantage of this accessible resource. One of the key innovations in the Dutch herring industry was the preservation method called
“gibbing” (Dutch: haringkaken), invented in the late fourtheenth century by Dutch fisherman Willem Beukelszoon. This process involved removing the gills and some internal organs, while leaving the pancreas intact to aid in curing the fish. This method significantly extended the shelf life of the herring, enabling large-scale fishing and export throughout Europe. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, herring fishing became a major economic driver for the Netherlands. In the early seventeenth century, the Dutch herring fleets comprised an estimated 770 ships, far outnumbering the 150 to 200 ships involved in whaling during the same period.

Despite being called raw herring, the dish is not actually raw. The herring is first frozen and then salted for several days to allow it to ripen (producing soused herring). This process made herring not only nutritious but also affordable, with a long shelf life when stored in salted barrels, making it a valuable winter food source.

Delftware herring dishes were common in Dutch kitchens. In addition to a series of plates depicting the journey from herring catch to consumer, various types of herring dishes were produced. These dishes were often shaped like fish or designed in oval or rectangular forms, decorated with images of herring.

Delft, circa 1750

Each marked IB in blue for Justus Brouwer of De Porceleyne Byl (The Porcelain Axe) factory from 1739 to 1775

Each finely painted with an elaborate central scene depicting a basket brimming with fruit, resting on an ornate baroque table and surrounded by delicately rendered insects and butterflies, the pierced sides highlighted in cobalt blue, the handles molded in the form of interlocking dolphins, the upper rim featuring a scrollwork band both on the exterior and the interior, the lower exterior decorated with a geometrical band of squares and triangles with stripes in the middle.

DIMENSIONS
Width: 25.5 and 26 cm. (10 and 10.2 in.)

PROVENANCE
Cor & An Erwich (Barbet) Collection, Belgium;
Aronson Antiquairs, Amsterdam

NOTE
Delft flower baskets, designed for floral arrangements, have been part of the assortment of Delft potteries since the second half of the seventeenth century. Some factories even employed specialists dedicated exclusively to the production of these so-called bennetjes. Several dated examples indicate that such baskets were often presented as gifts for special occasions, highlighting their role as both functional and decorative objects. Notably, many royal collections feature Delft flower baskets, including those in the Royal Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn.

This mid-eighteenth-century pair, with its intended use indicated on the bottom, demonstrates that flower arranging in ceramic baskets was still occasionally practiced at that time. However, given the limited number of surviving examples from the eighteenth century, it is likely that the peak of this tradition occurred in the last quarter of the seventeenth century. The intricate craftsmanship required to create such a finely open worked basket, combined with its refined painting, suggests that this pair was produced by a highly skilled artisan.

Delft, circa 1760

Each marked with an axe in blue for De Porceleyne Byl (The Porcelain Axe) factory
Each painted in the center with a flowering prunus tree growing beside a pine tree before a pierced rock on a grassy plateau, the rococo-scroll-molded rim with a border of demi-chrysanthemum blossoms and foliate scrolls within petal-edged lappets, and the exterior with four beribboned lozenges.

DIMENSIONS
Lengths: 26.5 and 26.3 cm. (10.4 in.)

PROVENANCE
The Kitty Valkier-Schreurs Collection, Belgium;
Aronson Antiquairs, Amsterdam;
Collection Mrs. M., New York State, USA

LITERATURE
Described and illustrated in Aronson 2012, p. 118, no. 68.

Delft, circa 1765

Marked with an axe in blue for De Porcelyene Byl (The Porcelain Axe) factory

The boar, naturalistically modeled with a striped brown hide, black hooves, and expressive eyes accentuated in iron-red, is seated before a blue stylized tree trunk, resting on a conformingly shaped base, with a blue edge bordered in yellow, on top a green, grassy surface.

DIMENSIONS
Height: 15.7 cm. (6.2 in.);
Width: 21.4 cm. (8.4 in.)

PROVENANCE
Belgian Private Collection, in the same ownership for over 30 years

NOTE
In Christian culture, the pig or boar is traditionally regarded as a symbol of vice. It may also serve as an allegory for the synagogue, as stated in Lucia Impelluso, Nature and its symbols, 2004, p. 267. The particular seated boar presented here is inspired by Il Porcellino, the famous bronze fountain in Florence. The original sculpture was created by Pietro Tacca (1577–1640) in 1612. In 1857, the original was replaced by a copy, and the original was subsequently added to the collection of the Bardini Museum in Florence. Tacca’s work itself was modeled after an Italian replica of an ancient Greek marble sculpture depicting the Calydonian Boar. This legendary creature, central to Greek mythology, was hunted by Atalanta and Meleager, as recounted in Ovid’s M e t a m o r p h o s e s (Book 8).

Available

Delft, circa 1760

Delft, circa 1765

Delft, circa 1780

Delft, circa 1760

Marked with an axe in blue for De Porceleyne Byl (The Porcelain Axe) factory

Each cover modeled as a swimming duck with slightly extended wings and upswept tail in manganese, blue, green and yellow, and a manganese head with a blue bill, on a watery blue mound above an oval tureen with a yellow scalloped and barbed rim and decorated in manganese with a continuous meandering vine bearing blossoms and leaves.

Dimensions
Heights: 11.8 cm. (4.6 in.)

Provenance
The F. Bodenheim Collection, Amsterdam;
The Guepin Collection, Eindhoven;
The Collection of Dr. J.P.H. Peper, Laren;
Aronson Antiquairs, Amsterdam, 2006;
The Van der Vorm Collection, The Netherlands

Note
At the end of the seventeenth century, large tureens in silver, and later ceramic, were the centerpieces for grand services. However, smaller tureens in the form of animals and birds predate this practice. Early in the seventeenth century, these small, naturalistic forms acted as the serving ware for pies on festive occasions. The fancy and decorative pastry forms were even embellished with plumes and bird heads, which can be seen in period paintings.

By the middle of the eighteenth century, naturalism reigned in ceramics with the increased interest in botanical and zoological subjects. The ‘trompe l’oeil’ style was at its zenith in the faience of Strasbourg in France and the porcelain of Meissen in Germany and Chelsea in England. All of these centers of production served as the inspiration and models for Delft potters, who created their own unique versions of both domestic and exotic animals for their eager clientele.

Similar examples
Although birds and fowl were beloved subjects of inspiration for the Delft potters and many different forms were produced, no other pair identical in model to these seems to be published. A singular duck tureen and cover, marked AP for Anthonij Pennis, is in a Belgian private collection.

Delft, circa 1780

Marked on all but July with an axe in blue for De Porceleyne Byl (The Porcelain Axe) factory

Each painted across the interior with figures at various appropriate pursuits and reserved at the top of the rim with an oval panel inscribed with the name of a month:

Jannúarÿ depicting skaters on a canal and a gentleman seated in a tent and being served a goblet of wine;

Febrúarÿ depicting an interior with a gentleman warming his hands and feet at the fireplace and looking toward two couples seated at a table;

Maart depicting a man smoking and supervising a gardener while a woman strolls beyond;

April depicting a gardener supporting a spade and offering a posy to a lady;

Meÿ depicting a pair of sweethearts seated beneath a tree with a shepherd tending his flock in the distance;

Júnÿ depicting a man shearing a sheep near a youthful shepherd and his flock;

Júlÿ depicting a harvester raking hay while another drinks from a bottle;

Aúgústús depicting three men harvesting and bundling hay;

September depicting a woman pointing at the apples falling from a tree being shaken by a man while another man carries away a basket full of the fruit;

October depicting a man rolling a wine barrel near two gentlemen, one holding a bottle and offering the other a goblet of wine;

November depicting two children watching their father and mother bleed a pig;

Dezember depicting a man chopping branches off a tree while another bundles them before a man smoking in a tent near skaters.

Dimensions
Diameters: 25.3 to 25.7 cm. (10 to 10.1 in.)

Provenance
Aronson Antiquairs, Amsterdam;
Czech Private Republic

Similar examples
Another set of De Byl month plates in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (inv. nos. 1921-3-31-40, 89, 90) is illustrated in Schaap 2003, p. 51; and in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) from the William Randolph Hearst Collection (50.28.12.1 – 12). An early eighteenth century set, including more figures and with the signs of the zodiac instead of the names of the months, marked for De Witte Ster (The White Star) factory, in the Kunstmuseum, The Hague, is illustrated in Van Aken-Fehmers 2001, pp. 250-251, no. 69.

Delft, circa 1770

One marked with an axe in blue and the other with an axe in iron-red for De Porceleyne Byl (The Porcelain Axe) factory

Each with a blue-spotted hide, iron-red tail, forelock, ears and lapping tongue, yellow horns and manganese hooves, wearing garlands of iron-red, yellow and manganese flowers and green and blue leaves around her back, and modeled affronté, standing on the high green grassy cited rectangular base.

Dimensions
Heights: 11.8 cm. (4.6 in.)
Lengths: 10.8 cm. (4.3 in.)

Provenance
C.J.J. Weegenaar Antiquair, The Hague, 1982;
The Van der Vorm Collection, The Netherlands

Similar examples
A similar modeled single cow, marked for De Porceleyne Byl, is in the Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Enschede (inv. no. BR0001 [R288]).