In the sixteenth century several factories were established in a number of Dutch towns which among their items produced “Majolica”. This "Majolica" was made with a tin-glaze and found its origins in Italy and Spain. The pictures shows a vase of factory “de Paauw” and the mark on the bottom.
Factory “de Paauw” was established in 1650.
Porcelain from China
The Dutch East Indian Company began importing porcelain from China in the seventeenth century. This porcelain, especially the blue and white became very popular.
The "Majolica" producing factories started at a certain moment to imitate this Chinese porcelain, because of several reasons. The imported Chinese porcelain meant competition. Civil war in China made that imports from China went down. Customers asked for specific items which due to distance took a long time to deliver and due to language problems the delivered item was not always what was ordered.
In Delft, in the seventeenth century 32 factories were producing Delftware, among them factory "de Paauw". These factories were often established in beer breweries which had stopped their production.
In the nineteenth century due to competition from other factories and lack of innovations, the highlight of Delftware had come to a close. Nowadays in Delft only a few companies still produce the entirely hand painted traditional Delftware. One of these companies is "de Delftse Pauw".
"Delft Pottery de Delftse Pauw” exclusively produces and sells entirely hand-painted Delftware which is a unique approach.