Delftware ceramics

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Delftware vases from between 1725 and 1760

Delft Pottery or Delfts aardewerk is a decorative or hand-painted (tin-glazed) pottery made in Delft . In the course of the 19th century, the tin glaze paved the way for ceramics that burned out white, which can now also be printed with traditional decorations. Delft's aardewerk is valued worldwide as a national product and has the same high status as the old Dutch painting of the 17th century.

history

At the beginning of the 17th century, the Verenigde Oost-Indische Companie (VOC) began to import large quantities of Chinese porcelain in a well-organized manner. Immediately one began to imitate these exotic-looking models in various cities in the Netherlands . It was first possible in Delft to invent a substitute made of high-quality tin-glazed ceramic, which came very close to the appearance of porcelain. Due to the great demand for "Dutch porcelain" this branch became an important pillar of the Delft economy. In 1625, a few years after the invention of the Delft aardewerk , all eight existing plate distilleries switched to its production. The number was to increase explosively to 31 by 1675. The enormous production of several million pieces per year resulted in a sales area that reached as far as Curaçao and Boston . In addition to the competition between Chinese and European porcelain, the import of the harder and cheaper English creamware posed the greatest threat from the middle of the 18th century. Decay began, and of 24 active distilleries in 1750 only 10 still existed around 1800 only De Porceleyne Fles in operation. Even so, the popularity of Delft's blauw has reached a new high.

The Delft plate bakers had great success with their imitations of Chinese porcelain, they produced their goods, which were comparable in appearance, at an unrivaled price. In one of the 6 chambers of the VOC in Delft, a lot of porcelain was available as a template. Due to the closure of breweries within the city, many company buildings were vacated for the plate bakers to move into.

Ceramic types

Utility ceramics with lead glaze

Since time immemorial, household ceramics have been coated with a lead glaze. Added metal oxides are coloring agents. Stamps or dies are used for relief decorations. The chip carving technique was very popular in Friesland.

Utility ceramics with tin glaze

See also: Delft blue

Tin glaze is a white, opaque glaze. In the Netherlands this pottery with painting on a white background was produced from the late 16th century. Utility ceramics with tin glaze are to be distinguished from majolica and faience. Both types were also called plateel in the Netherlands , which is the original name for a flat dinner plate.

Majolica

Majolica is used ceramics made in the Netherlands with a tin glaze, also known as “ leidersgoed ”. The front is covered with tin glaze, the back with lead glaze. In the kilns, this type of majolica was stacked on proenen, refractory stones, to prevent them from sticking together. The procedure always left damage to the front.

After the fall of Antwerp in 1585, many majolica burners settled in the northern Netherlands. Their colorful assortment consisted u. a. from pudding bowls, bowls, apothecary pots and syrup cans . The massive importation of Chinese porcelain from 1600 onwards and the development of the Delft Aardewerk had a great lasting impact on Dutch majolica production. Nevertheless, majolica was made well into the 19th century.

Sometimes majolica (with j) is also incorrectly used to designate English utility ceramics with lead glaze from the 19th century in the Neo-Renaissance style.

Differentiation from porcelain

Delft ceramics are not porcelain , because kaolin is necessary to make porcelain . Since this did not exist in the Netherlands, no porcelain could be made there. The Delft plate bakers called themselves porceleybakkers in the 16th century , but did not know the difference between ceramics and porcelain. They were familiar with Chinese porcelain, but they could not produce it; this only succeeded in Europe in 1708 through Johann Friedrich Böttger and Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus . A distinction can be made between ceramic and porcelain on the firing ring , the non-glazed, mostly circular surface on the underside: with ceramic it appears slightly porous, with porcelain it appears solid and without pores.

literature

  • Caroline Henriette de Jonge: Delftware. Wasmuth, 1969.
  • Wilhelm Joliet: The history of the tile. Rudolf Müller, Cologne 1996, ISBN 3-481-01146-6 . ( online )
  • Jan Pluis: Bible tiles, from the 17th to the 20th century. Ardey-Verlag, Münster 1994 (German, Dutch)
  • Hans van Lemmen: Delft tiles. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt DVA, 1998, ISBN 3-421-03165-7 .
  • Claire Dumortier: Céramique de la Renaissance à Anvers, de Venise à Delft. Racine, Brussels 2002, ISBN 2-87386-284-X . (French)
  • Jan Pluis: The Dutch tile; 1570-1930. Primavera Pers, Leiden 1997, ISBN 90-74310-26-5 . (English, Dutch)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Keramieksoorten. Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, accessed on May 12, 2012 (Dutch).