On Display Now

Our temporary exhibition features items that have been chosen for their beauty, rarity, craftsmanship, or because they illustrate certain aspects of the rich history of Delft jewellery.

On display now are items from our collection that have been decorated with blue Delft sailboat scenes. The subject, like windmills, is quite traditional. Flat and round bottom sailing boats once were the main means of transport on Dutch lakes and rivers, and on the inland canal network. Now that most remaining traditional vessels have been converted into museum pieces and leisure yachts, they still are broadly appreciated and admired as an important part of Dutch heritage. However, as a Dutch symbol abroad, the little blue ships were never on a par with windmills, tulips, or clogs, and hand decorated Delft sailboat jewelry is today pretty rare.

In spite of a comparatively low demand, the sailing boat motive has always remained in the collection of producers of Delft and Delft jewelry. One of the most interesting sailboat painters is Piet Woerlee. Some of his work for the Verwoerd studio is presented below, together with samples by De Porceleyne Fles, Plateelbakkerij Schoonhoven, and a rare early 1949 bracelet by Cornelis Verwoerd.

Delft painters are not necessarily sailing boat connoisseurs, and their designs may in part be fantasy. Nevertheless, most of the decorations seem to be based on real ship designs. The museum is very grateful for the expert advice of Mr M.S. Bakker on the various types of vessels that are presented in this section. Please note that the small pictures can be enlarged by hovering your mouse over them.

To put things into perspective, hand painted Delft ships jewelry may be rare but screened ships are not. After a very successful career with Plateelbakkerij Schoonhoven, Frans van Katwijk (1893-1952) starts his own workshop in Gouda in 1946, and specializes in hand painted Delft jewelry inserts. Unfortunately he falls ill, and dies as early as November 1952. The firm continues, but decorating quality suffers considerably from his absence. In 1958 hand painting largely ends, and screen printing is introduced. The output of the Van Katwijk firm can therefore be divided in three time periods. Period I, 1946-1953. Hand painted, mostly during Frans van Katwijk's lifetime. Signed 'Delfts Holland' with occasionally a decorator's mark. Period II, 1953-1958. Hand painted, be it increasingly poorly. All decorators use the factory mark VK. Period III, 1958-1999. Screen printed cabochons. The VK mark has been skipped, and there is a simple 'delfts holland' stamp on the reverse. The samples shown here, glue-fixed in a lightweight 'silvertone' metal case, have been made in the final decades of the company that is taken over by the De Wit family in 1977. The sailing boat decorations have been screen printed. The larger samples have manually added blue shades in order to simulate hand painting. Cabochons like this have been produced in large quantities, with decorations of windmills, flowers, and ships. They are readily available in the second hand market.

According to Rick Erickson's "Royal Delft - A Guide to De Porceleyne Fles" brocheplaatjes (brooch panels) feature in an inventory list as early as 1879. This 1891 silver and earthenware piece is not much later, and is the oldest ships brooch in our collection. As with other manufacturers, Royal Delft windmill brooches are more common. The face of this brooch is decorated with small inshore fishing vessels. The two boats in the foreground have ancient spritsails. The reverse shows the familiar "Fles" factory mark, the painter's monogram NS, the year letter M for 1891, and a model number 322. The decorator has not yet been identified, but the initials may belong to N.A.P. Storm. The silver bezel setting has an unusual outer frame that seems to be inspired by the shape of bamboo or rattan. It can be considered a piece of Japonaiserie, a style featuring Japanese and other Asian motives that became popular during the Art Nouveau period. (Collection VCO)

The lead of the Porceleyne Fles is followed by others, in particular Plateelbakkerij Delft (after 1902) and Plateelbakkerij Zenith (after 1937). Most of the Delft jewelry by Plateelbakkerij Schoonhoven (PS) is immediately after WW2. Being located in the small town of Schoonhoven, PS has excellent contacts with the numerous silver smiths Schoonhoven is famous for. PS becomes a supplier of Delft jewelry inserts to various different silver smiths, who then sell the finished silver jewelry for their own accounts. The round brooch is by silver smith Willem Rond, whose maker's mark WR5 was used between 1945 and 1969. There is also a year letter "J" for 1945. The oval brooch is by silver smith G.J. van den Bergh & Son who used their first vdB1 mark from 1941 till 1949. Both picture a Dutch "Aak" fishing vessel with a gaff rig. The reverse of the round brooch has Delfts Holland, the PS monogram, and the painter's initial M. The oval brooch has M and Delfts Holland only. The decorator's name has not yet been established. One of the candidates could be Piet Mulder who has worked for Plateelbakkerij Schoonhoven from 1920 to 1964. The production of PS has been considerable, and of strongly varying quality. Although most of their inserts have windmill or flower decorations, we do see slightly more hand painted sailing boats by PS than by other manufacturers. (Collection VCO)

Pieter (Peter) Woerlee (1886-1963) has worked as a decorator for several different potteries, such as Plateelbakkerij Zuid Holland in Gouda, and Plateelbakkerij Delft in Hilversum. In 1937 he is hired by Frans van Katwijk for Plateelbakkerij Schoonhoven. Shortly thereafter Verwoerd joins Schoonhoven. The two men work closely together, and become friends. After WW2, Woerlee decides to remain a free lancer. He works amongst others for the newly established Van Katwijk studio in Gouda, and in 1953 after the demise of Frans van Katwijk, for the Verwoerd Workshop. The samples of his work shown here have been made for the Verwoerd studio in 1955. His work at the age of 69 is very recognisable, and his ships are often more flamboyant than they are precise illustrations. All three pieces feature a Dutch "Tjalk" sailing barge. The 10cm square tile is a trial product. It has not been used commercially, but it is a fine demonstration of his skills. Of the 40mm round medallions only 229 pieces have been sold to be silver framed, all in 1955. They are quite rare. Piet Woerlee retires in 1956 when he is 70 years of age. He and Verwoerd remain in contact until the death of Woerlee at the age of 77. (Collection VCO)

When Verwoerd starts his own Ceramics Workshop in Gouda in 1949, he has to present a full selection of Delft medallions to his Schoonhoven silversmith clients. Not just windmills, but a sample of his sailing boats as well. This bracelet is from that first year. There are three silver marks on the fixed closure ring. The figure 3 is an indication of the bracelet's weight class. The small plain sword indicates that the silver content is 833/1000. It was used until September 1953. The overlined vdB1 maker's mark was used by silver smith G.J. van den Bergh & Son until 1949. It is very difficult make out a particular sailing boat type from the almost impressionistic ship decorations on the tiny 10mm medallions, even if you increase the size of the pictures to an unflattering larger than life. All seem to be traditional Dutch gaff-rigged vessels. There is another indication that these are very early samples. As soon as the Verwoerd studio was fully operative, Delft cabochons were decorated through serial painting. Al decorations made at the same time would come out more or less alike. What is charming of this early work is that there is a clear attempt to make each boat different. They sail in different positions vis-à-vis the wind, and the vane in top of the mast is always in the correct direction. As the production figures for these first samples have not been recorded, we don't exactly know how many were made, probably not more than a few dozen. This is a very rare bracelet indeed. For more details about silver marks on Delft jewelry see our section on Schoonhoven Silver Marks. For production figures of ship medallions and other rare Verwoerd cabochons, see our section on Rare Delft Designs. (Collection VCO)