Jug

4

A blue and white jug, typical of Delftware as far as I know

Vraag

Is this genuine and when was it made?

Collectie
publiekscollectie
Merk

Reacties 4

This is a delftware - meaning that this is made in the style of the Blue of Delft -  jug produced by the manufacture of Velsen Sassenheim, it's not considered the genuine Delftware in the meaning that the public here uses. Genuine Delftware is typically used to refer to objects made by potteries in the city of Delft itself.

This is a genuine dutch-made object, not a no-name chinese replica, period is midcentury to late 20th, not sure about exact years; it's most likely vintage but not antique. 

Greetings,
Teti

De plateelschilder zou geweest zijn Nico Koelewijn, zie: www.polychroom.nl

Aldaar meer gegevens over het bedrijf Velsen-Sassenheim, ook onderstaand interview, groet jvdh.

NICO KOELEWIJN  (wrote this himself ! , sent to me by Rob his Son...Thanks Rob !!)

 

Personal

I’m Nico Koelwijn, born in Voorhout on the 31st of December 1928. Between jobs (as a house painter for instance) I went to the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. In 1947 I had a meeting with Mr. Van Vliet who told me at that point that there would be no painting on the porcelain or earthenware. In May 1948 an agency in Leiden sent me to the Velsen factory in Sassenheim to talk to Mr. Van Vliet and mr. L. de Vrind. We came to terms quickly. I painted a stork with a baby on a coffee mug (still got it) en got hired immediately. I started as an earthenware painter the next Monday. I was the first painter in service of the Velsen company in Sassenheim. Mr. Van Vliet and Mr. De Vrind taught me how to profile (making the rims on plates, cups and saucers). For this I received my first turn plate, that I’m still using to this day. With these gentlemen I learned fast. Within the first year some Gouda painters were hired. At that moment the city of Sassenheim was building houses and the painters could move and live in Sassenheim (1952/1953). The first one was Eldert Bruyniks. This man taught me how to paint the “real” Delft Blue. Drawing was my hobby and painted became my trade. In those days there was a lack in earthenware and especially Delft Ware. Everything was made in Delfts – Red-Green-Blue-Sepia (brown) and Polychrome. It all went like crazy. My first painters boss was Gerrit Bunschoten, later on Joop Slinger, Jan van Leeuwen and then Wim Pouw. I became a specialist in city sights, landscapes and “heads” of the old masters. I wasn’t in the “Bideaux-system”, because I only did the special assignments. At that time the factory in Sassenheim had 37 painters and about 10  in a Gouda workplace. Besides that a lot was done at home. After 30 years of “Velsen” I left with Piet Verhoeven and Jaap van Doorn (see picture) to another company “De Leidsche Fles” (I designed the logo). The employer was Lou Guldemond. That company was at first based in Oegstgeest and later on moved to Leiden (first at the Morsweg and then to the Breestraat). I’ve worked there for ten years. Of these ten years I’ve worked from home for about three and a half years. After the factory was taken over and the new employer died, the company seized to exist and I was out of a job. At the request of Mayor Kret of Sassenheim I went on painting at home and up till now I’m still using my paintbrushes for painting earthenware.

 

The factory…

In 1949 Velsen started to produce painted earthenware and from 1950 the first numbered vases were sold (1001-1002-1003). These numbered products went up with the years to about 1800. You could find a numbered list in the painters hall. There were envelopes in boxes with ponsives (a ponsive is a piece of see-through paper with tiny holes for charcoal lines). The decoration was made by the master painter and then I made a pensive of that. The ponsives were folded around the object to be painted and then taped to the object. With a small bag with charcoal powder the ponsive was tapped on the “biscuit” (one time baked product) to outline the drawings. This was done on all the items to get an uniform product like the model the salesmen (also called “the travellers) showed to shops. At a later stage they also started to use numbers below the 1000. My job as a ponsive maker was taken over by Jan de Winter and I got the opportunity to work on tile tableaus (booklet under number T013/815 – sorry haven’t got that in my collection……). I made the clouded skies which later on were also used in Gouda and Delft. The decorations were made by painters like J. Slinger, J. Müller, S. Bitter, J. van Leeuwen, G. Bunschoten, L. Bruyniks en Wim Pouw. The old masters on plates and tableaus were mostly made by J. van Doorn and myself (Nic. Koelewijn). The city- and landscapes were mostly made by Wim Pouw, Jan van Leeuwen and Me. Portraits by Wim Pouw and Me and the very large vases by Marian Sobus and Wim Pouw. The managers were Leen Marbus and later on Dick Dorresteijn.

 

Hope to have been of some service, signing in highest regard,

Nic.

Verdict:

  • Not Delftware

Analysis:

  • Not made in Delft The term Delftware is only used for earthenware actually produced in Delft. Read more
  • More recent production technique After 1850, factories in and outside Holland developed more efficient and cheaper production techniques. This goes beyond the scope of this website. Read more
  • Hand-painted An important characteristic of authentic Delftware is that it is hand-painted. Printing techniques do not occur on this earthenware. Read more
  • Mark of a non-Delft pottery/factory The typical Delftware also inspires producers outside of Delft, but genuine Delftware has only been produced in Delft. Read more

Merk:

  • VL small s

What a wonderful and truly heartwarming response by the painter himself. Thank you Nico Koelwijn (and son!) for your elaborate explanation and history. I hope we can honour these responses on this platform, not only by making them visible for everyone to find and read, but possible we can do more to showcase the painters of blue and white ceramics in the Netherlands. Again, also many thanks to Jan van den Heuvel for his extensive knowledge, efforts and contacts!

Wat een prachtige reactie van de plateelschilder zelf! Dank Nico Koelwijn (en zoon!) voor de uitgebreide uitleg van uw geschiedenis en die van het bedrijf. Ik hoop dat wij dit soort bijzondere bijdragen eer aan kunnen doen op dit platform. Niet alleen door ze vindbaar te maken voor iedereen, maar wellicht kunnen we ook eens de vele plateelschilders in Nederland eens etaleren op de website. Wederom veel dank aan Jan van den Heuvel voor zijn uitgebreide kennis, inzet en ongelooflijke netwerk!

Thank you so much to everyone for your comments, but I would like to extend special thanks to the artist Nico Koelwijn for taking the time to respond to my query.

The jug belonged to my friend’s late father and she entrusted the jug to my care when she recently emigrated to Canada. She had wondered how old the jug was and so I decided to try and find out some information. I certainly didn’t expect to receive such comprehensive information, especially from the actual artist! I will be sure to forward all the information to my friend in Canada.

Kind Regards 

Dawn