Painting Delftware in Delft

The Dutch city of Delft is synonymous with the classic blue and white pottery known as Delftware (aka Delft Blue or Delft pottery).  Located in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands, Delft is a charming historic city complete with handsome stone buildings, beautiful old churches, delightful narrow canals, and intriguing hidden alleyways.
This is the Oostpoort (East Gate), Delft’s only surviving city gate, at sunset.

These are the steeples of the Oude Kerk (Old Church) which dates back to 1246.

The Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) is the final resting place for the members of the Dutch Royal House.  The most famous grave is that of William of Orange (more about him later).

The arched bridges, white wrought iron rails, cobblestone streets and quiet canals of Delft are quite picturesque…

…especially with the beautiful spring blossoms.

This charming alley was spotted in the historic city center.

Delft was an important city in the 16^th century.  William of Orange, “Father of the Nation” and ancestor of the monarchy of the Netherlands, established himself in Delft after defeating Spanish invaders.  He is credited with founding “the Netherlands as a parliamentary state based on the principles of freedom of religion and freedom of expression” in 1581.  After this, Delft became the de facto capital as the seat of the Prince of Orange.  Artisans and craftspeople settled in the city bringing their skills and expertise in printing, beer brewing, tapestry weaving and earthernware making.  In 1602, The Dutch East India Company opened an office in Delft and the city was poised for success.
“From the early 17th Century, the Netherlands was introduced to oriental porcelain thanks to the Dutch East India Trading Company”. says the Kunstmuseum Den Haag website.  “Gloss, beautiful decorations and exotic forms appealed to the imagination, but only wealthy people could afford to buy these Chinese products. Before long… Delftware factories, such as De Porceleyne Fles, introduced imitation porcelain products made of Dutch clay. They aimed to copy the Chinese product as well as they could. And not without success, because their sophisticated, luxurious earthenware products were widely considered the best alternative to genuine (export) porcelain. That is how Delftware factories became the low-cost warehouses with an enormous impact on the Dutch way of life.”
Only one of those original Delftware factories is still in play.  “Established in 1653, Royal Delft/De Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles is the only remaining Delft blue pottery factory from the 17th century.  The world-famous Delft blue pottery is still painted entirely by hand according to centuries-old traditions.” says the Royal Delft website.
I was thrilled to learn Royal Delft hosts painting workshops where visitors can give this centuries-old painting tradition a try for themselves.  I proposed the idea to Marian and, being the wonderful sister she is, she agreed to participate in this rare experience with me.  The minute I saw the pretty front courtyard at Royal Delft, I knew we were in for a treat!

After getting settled, we got acquainted with the Royal Delft tools and materials.  A 7¼” round, white plate was ready for each of us to decorate.  We used two special brushes—one called a “tracker” to outline the design and the other a full round brush to color in the outlines.  These brushes are custom-made at Royal Delft from marten and squirrel hair.  We learned to mix the deep black paint with water to create various shades of black.  As with most ceramic glazes, the final colors, those beautiful shades of blue, don’t appear until after the final firing.
We spent a few minutes practicing.  In contrast, Royal Delft painters must practice for an entire year before any of their pieces are offered for sale!  It takes an additional 7-9 years in Royal Delft’s internal training program to become a Royal Delft Master Painter.

Next we chose a design from the wide assortment on offer.

The instructors transferred our chosen designs to our plates using a traditional pouncing method.  With this method, a copy of the design is pricked with pinholes and then a small bag of powdered charcoal is pounced over the pattern.  The charcoal passes through the pin pricks and the design is transferred to the intended surface.

The transferred design can be seen on my plate below.

Here’s how my plate looked with the painting in progress—not perfect, but OK for a first try!

We left our painted plates with the instructors and went to explore the museum and the factory.  It was late in the afternoon and the factory was quiet.  It was fascinating, especially for someone who is actively learning to work with clay (see my previous post Still Talking About Tiles!), to peek into the actual production facility.

We were able to trace the process from plaster mold to finished piece.

This photo shows a variety of multi-part plaster molds into which clay is poured.

We saw shelves and shelves of pieces in progress.

These beautifully painted dishes appear to be ready for the final firing.  The Royal Delft product catalogue listing, shown in the inset photo, describes it as a “Herring Dish”.

We had the pleasure of viewing a variety of Royal Delft products during our visit.  It was interesting to compare traditional pieces such as this amazing Tulip Vase Pyramid…

… to more contemporary pieces like the Proud Mary figurines.  Royal Delft introduced the Proud Mary series to give the iconic Blue Delft a contemporary look and feel.  As stated on the Royal Delft website “With the launch of Proud Mary, Royal Delft puts the pride back into the craftsmanship of Delft Blue.  The inspiration Proud Mary is named after Mary II, the wife of Stadholder Willem III.  Mary II was a great admirer and collector of Delft Blue in the Dutch Golden Age.”

Another extraordinary piece that caught my eye is the Blow Away Vase pictured below.  I’ve since learned this piece was created by the Swedish designers Front for the Dutch design firm Moooi.  To create the Blow Away Vase for Moooi “Front digitised a Royal Delft vase and added some parameters to the material in the 3D software. It was then exposed to a simulated gust of wind.”  The inset photo shows the vase from Front’s website.

Returning to my own far-less-impressive efforts, the kind folks at Royal Delft (Thank you so much!) were able to rush our plates through glazing, firing, packaging and shipping.  My own Delftware plate arrived at our Amsterdam hotel the following week.

More Info

My recent trip to the Netherlands and Belgium was packed with fun and inspiration.  I’m sharing the experience in a series of blog posts including:
. Come Tiptoe Through the Tulips which is packed with all things tulip including a visit to Noorwijkerhout in the midst of the Bulb Region, the world-famous spring gardens at Keukenhof, and tulip-related highlights from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
. Milling the Water of Kinderdijk in which I share my visits—an afternoon bike ride and a sunrise hike—to the beautiful windmills of the Kinderdijk.
. Painting Delftware in Delft (this post).
. Expected and Unexpected Delights of Ghent in which I share the rich heritage and beautiful architecture of Ghent Belgium as well as unexpected delights such as innovative art installations and sweet wildlife sightings.
. Artworks as Big as Walls in Amsterdam sharing our experience visiting STRAAT, the graffiti and street art museum, in Amsterdam’s edgy arts community at NDSM.
One of my favorite things to do when traveling is to participate in a hands-on artmaking experience typical of my destination.  I’ve shared a few of these experiences here on the blog:
. Making Curls and Swirls with a Filigree Master about my experience making traditional filigree jewelry in a master filigree artist’s studio in Gondomar, Portugal.
. My Sweet Sweetgrass Wreath about my experience making a sweetgrass wreath with an 8th generation sweetgrass basket maker in Hilton Head, South Carolina, USA.
. Learning from the Ancient Masters about my experience learning to make a small stone mosaic in the traditional way from a professional master mosaicist in Rome, Italy.
. My Batik Journey from Singapore to Miami about my experiences learning batik from an Indonesian batik artist while living in Singapore and a Malaysian batik artist while visiting Miami, Florida, USA.
The city of Delft in the Netherlands is a great place to visit.  For more information, see the Holland Tourism website or the City of Delft website.
To learn more about visiting Royal Delft or participating in their painting workshops, see the Royal Delft website.
TIP regarding the Royal Delft painting workshop: to avoid costly shipping charges (eg €75,00 to ship to the USA), plan to pick up your finished project later in your trip or have it shipped to an European location.
As noted in this blog post, I’m actively learning to work with clay.  Check out my previous blog posts Pinch Pot Bunny and Still Talking About Tiles! for a peek into my progress.
The Kunstmuseum in Den Haag, Netherlands features a permanent exhibition called Delftware WonderWare.

Today’s Takeaways

1. When travelling, seek out hands-on artmaking experiences typical of your destination.
2. Learn how people and events of the past have shaped your destination.
3. Consider including lesser-known destinations, such as the city of Delft, in your travel plans.