Bottle thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 145

Bottle

1686-1701 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Chinese blue and white porcelain became immensely fashionable in 17th-century Holland as the Dutch East India Company, established in 1602, began to import this exotic product by the shipload.
The potters of Delft changed their style and the quality of their product in order to compete with Chinese porcelain. Decorations in Chinese style were applied in cobalt blue on the finest white tin-glaze ground. In order to achieve a sheen akin to that of Chinese porcelain, Delft potters sprinkled a layer of lead-glaze onto their unfired, decorated pots. In firing, this changed into a transparent and highly glossy cover glaze or 'kwaart'.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Tin-glazed earthenware with painted decoration
Brief description
Double-gourd bottle, tin-glazed earthenware painted with Chinese style floral decoration in blue, made at the factory "De Grieksche A", Delft, 1686-1701
Physical description
Bottle, gourd shape, Chinese style floral decoration.
Dimensions
  • Height: 31.7cm
  • Diameter: 15cm
Marks and inscriptions
'AK' over 'VI.II' (Painted in blue)
Gallery label
Bottle under the ownership of Adrianus Kocx, made at the factory "De Grieksche A", Delft, Netherlands 1686-1701 Mark: 'AK' over ''VI.II', painted in blue Tin-glazed earthenware with painted decoration C.2370-1910 Salting Bequest(16/07/2008)
Credit line
Bequeathed by George Salting, Esq.
Production
Made at the factory "De Grieksche A" under the ownership of Adrianus Kocx. One of a pair with C. 2369-1910.
Summary
Chinese blue and white porcelain became immensely fashionable in 17th-century Holland as the Dutch East India Company, established in 1602, began to import this exotic product by the shipload.
The potters of Delft changed their style and the quality of their product in order to compete with Chinese porcelain. Decorations in Chinese style were applied in cobalt blue on the finest white tin-glaze ground. In order to achieve a sheen akin to that of Chinese porcelain, Delft potters sprinkled a layer of lead-glaze onto their unfired, decorated pots. In firing, this changed into a transparent and highly glossy cover glaze or 'kwaart'.
Bibliographic reference
Two almost identical vases with the same mark were at Aronson Antiquairs at Tefaf 2019. See: D. Aronson et al, Delftware: Inspiring Heritage: a Dutch private collection and other recent acquisitions, Amsterdam 2019, cat. 11, pp. 24-25
Collection
Accession number
C.2370-1910

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Record createdJuly 16, 2008
Record URL
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