Erfgoed Delft

Oriental porcelain
With the establishment of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1602 began the regular supply of Chinese export-porcelain to the Netherlands. At that time European ceramic-production consisted mainly of red earthenware, stoneware and majolica. Most Europeans still ate from plates made of wood or tin. Chinese porcelain made a huge impression, being much finer and elegant than familiar ceramics. It featured a thin potsherd, a white surface with exotic painting and had a beautiful gloss. In Europe during the Middle Ages, Oriental porcelain was usually only found in royal courts. The import of porcelain from the East at the start of the 17th century was destined for a small minority of wealthy Europeans, remaining an unattainable luxury for the less well-endowed majority. In various places majolica potters attempted to make a cheaper product that looked like porcelain. There seemed to be a hole in the market. Only in 1718 could Europeans even start to make real porcelain, when they finally also discovered the essential raw material of kaolin. For a long time the best imitations were manufactured in Delft, which were spoken of as being Delft porcelain. But true porcelain has never been made in Delft.  

Majolica
The origin of Delft earthenware is from a different type of ceramic known as majolica. Its front was coated with a whitish or opaque tin-glaze upon which a motif could be painted in the colours blue, yellow, green, manganese and orange-red. They are often referred to as majolica colours. The back was merely coated in transparent lead-glaze so that red or yellow cracks or sherd remain visible. The front sides of plates and saucers feature relatively thick sherd and scaring caused by the triangular supports or spurs used for stacking the objects upon each other in the kiln. Majolica potters produced mainly flat wares like plates. Rougher majolica was once called gleijersgoed, Middle Dutch for glazed earthenware. Majolica originated in southern Europe and was introduced to the Southern Netherlands (present Belgium) by the many South-European potters settling there in the 16th century. During the Netherlands Revolt many potters then migrated north especially after Antwerp fell to the Spanish in 1585. The first majolica-potter settled in Delft already in 1581 when Harmen Pieterzoon Valckenhoff signed up as a betielbakker or plate-potter at the Delft Guild of St Lukas.

Faience
In several cities of Holland, majolica potters succeeded in improving their product to make it look similar to the desired porcelain. As early as 1610 they developed a new type of product: faience. By adding loam to the clay mix they could make objects with a thinner potsherd. To avoid damages to the front of plates and saucers during firing, they were placed upon horizontal earthenware-pens within cylindrical earthenware-containers. This reduced contact within the kiln to merely the rims underneath ceramics. One major superficial difference was application of white tin-glaze over the whole piece following the first baking. This allowed a motif to be painted upon the wet tin-glaze before the second baking. Sometimes to enhance the gloss a layer of lead glaze was sprinkled over the object prior to this second firing. This new sort of earthenware became internationally known as faience.

Delft porcelain
Although more Dutch cities made faience, Delft became extraordinarily successful in its manufacture. So much so that the public at large now identify it as Delftware or Delft Blue, especially the blue-and-white variety. While not really correct, it does give us a certain pride. Both in quality and quantity Delft faience was way ahead of the Dutch competition. Although originally painted with oriental motifs, later Dutch or assimilated chinoiserie decorations were used. What distinguished Delft’s earthenware from that of other Dutch cities was its delicateness and the fine quality of its painting. The best examples were easily as good as real porcelain. The mention of Delft porcelain was therefore made in admiration. Where we further speak of Delft earthenware, we mean Delft faience.  

Delft pottery industry
The potteries that made Delft earthenware were called plateelbakkerijen. Plateel or platiel is Middle Dutch for flat saucer. Their production also consisted mainly of flat wares like plates and saucers. The number of potteries in Delft grew steadily from two in 1600, to fourteen by 1650, to thirty-three in 1700. By the second half of the 17th century many had two kilns one pottery even had three. Delft produced an enormous amount of faience. Both within the Netherlands and abroad a large market existed for these successful imitations of fine porcelain. Most output however, consisted of simple objects of everyday use, affordable for the less fortunate purse. Towards the end of the 17th century prospects worsened for this Delft industry. Exports stagnated due to higher tariffs slapped on imports by countries expanding their own earthenware-industry. The domestic market also slid into recession. In 1700 Delft’s potters complained that demand could already be met utilizing only half their output-capacity. Potteries disappeared one by one in the 18th century. Delft not only had European and Eastern porcelain to contend with, but also faced especially fierce competition from English earthenware like Wedgwood. Since 1858 only the Porceleyne Fles pottery still exists, which continues production to this very day.

The assortment
The Delft pottery industry made a great variety of products. Its large and diverse assortment ranged from everyday goods to truly pompous showpieces. On the basis of inventory valuations and potters pricelists, broad classifications can be made between everyday functional ware with little or no decoration, decorative functional earthenware and purely decorative pieces. For decorative functional crockery and the exclusive display-ware, further choices included refined or less refined painted motifs. These differences were also reflected in the prices charged to clients. Often there were various models available, such as ribbed or un-ribbed, lidded or not lidded, with or without ears. There was also a choice of sizes. An Amsterdam shop inventory from 1704 reveals that more than half of their stock was everyday functional ware. In shops in Delft, truly decorative pieces, such as flower vases and garniture accounted for less than one fifth of earthenware stocks. 

The trademarks
Underneath Delft earthenware various markings can be found, including names written in full, initials and figurative marks. Research shows they served as brands and usually indicated the name of a pottery or that of the owner. They were also utilised for international trade, as the mark guaranteed the origin of an earthenware shipment. Traders abroad would place orders using such markings. Their function was quite similar to modern trademarks. They were used increasingly from the end of the 17th century onwards, because of the growing importance of exports in the second half of that century, and due to increasing competition between brands faced with economic recession. In 1764, the trademarks of all the Delft potteries still in existence were officially registered by the city council to prevent misuse. Before then they had no official status, which makes it difficult to attribute earlier markings to the correct potteries. Often they can still be traced by means of thorough research. The markings together with the study of pricelists and inventories (estate inventories) help identify what a certain pottery produced. Next to the markings dates can appear, often written as a year, sometimes in full. A year stated underneath or on the back of earthenware normally refers to the year of production. With wedding presents or jubilee gifts, a date indicating the occasion, is often a feature of the decoration. 

For more information concerning this subject:
- www.delftsaardewerk.nl;
- M.S. van Aken-Fehmers, L.A. Schledorn, A.-G. Hesselink, T.M. Eliëns, Delfts aardewerk, History of a  national product, Part I , Zwolle/Den Haag 1999;
- M.S. van Aken-Fehmers, L.A. Schledorn, Delft earthenware, history of a national product, Part II , Zwolle/Den Haag 2001.