Delftware

Most of it is blue and white pottery, and the city of Delft in the Netherlands was the major centre of production, but the term covers wares with other colours, and made elsewhere.

Delftware forms part of the worldwide family of blue and white pottery, using variations of the plant-based decoration first developed in 14th-century Chinese porcelain, and in great demand in Europe.

Delftware includes pottery objects of all descriptions, such as plates, vases, figurines and other ornamental forms and tiles.

[5] Much of the finer work was produced in Delft, but simple everyday tin-glazed pottery was made in places such as Gouda, Rotterdam, Haarlem, Amsterdam and Dordrecht.

[7] The use of marl, a type of clay rich in calcium compounds, allowed the Dutch potters to refine their technique and to make finer items.

They then began to cover the tin-glaze with clear glaze, which gave depth to the fired surface and smoothness to cobalt blues, ultimately creating a good resemblance to porcelain.

Dutch potters did not immediately imitate Chinese porcelain; they began to do so after the death of the Wanli Emperor in 1620, when the supply to Europe was interrupted.

[12] Delftware ranged from simple household items – plain white earthenware with little or no decoration – to fancy artwork.

Little trace of feeling or originality remained to be lamented when, at the end of the eighteenth century, the Delftware potteries began to go out of business.