This arresting Delftware 'waster' may look like an example of contemporary ceramic art but in fact dates from the mid-17th century. It was excavated from the 'Zuidergracht' Canal in Delft, which formed the border of an area where several of the main tin-glazed earthenware ('Delftware') potteries were located, and consists of thirty-four large blue and white dishes that fused together when the protective cylinder in which they were fired collapsed in the kiln. Quite apart from its dramatic sculptural presence, the waster is a telling illustration of the tremendous risks involved in firing pre-industrial pottery - as all of the plates were beautifully hand-painted with Chinese patterns before being placed in the kiln - and also of the standardisation of production at this early date. Similar dishes have previously been attributed to Hamburg in Germany, and wasters like this have helped reattribute them to Delft.