Large handpainted Delft 3-piece garniture set made in 1972 by De Porceleyne Fles in Delft, the Netherlands. The set features a large (37,0 x 20,0 cm) covered vase with two matching beaker vases (25,5 x 17,5 cm). The vases are painted in Delft imari ("Pijnacker") style using red, blue and gold colours. The centre vase features a large bird of paradise surrounded by an elaborate display of Delft style flowers, which runs from the front side to the back. The shoulder is decorated with Delft style leaf and flower ornaments. The lid is decorated in a similar manner. The two side vases have an identical decor with an elaborate display of Delft style flowers which runs from the front side to the back. The painting is of high quality: precise and energetic. The vases are fully glazed, also on the inside.
The vases are ribbed, which adds extra sheen to the glaze. The covered vase is a combination of octagonal (8-sided) and round shapes, with the foot and the rim of the vase being 8-sided, the lid and body of the vase being round, while the edge of the lid is a combination of both shapes, being slightly 8-sided and round. The beaker vases are also 8-sided.
The "Pijnacker" style is the common name given to the red, blue and gold style of De Porceleyne Fles (and older Delftware producers), which is based on the Japanese imari style of ceramics. It is a very beautiful style but costly to produce, since the red and gold paints cannot be fired at high temperatures. So while the blue paint is painted underglaze (as normal with De Porceleyne Fles) and fired at a high temperature, the red and gold are painted overglaze after the first firing and the piece is fired a second time at lower temperatures. This second firing makes it more costly to produce, in addition to the gold paint that is used, which is made from pure, ground 24 karat gold. Because of the relatively high costs, De Porceleyne Fles has stopped making pieces in the Pijnacker style since 2009.
The vases are each signed at the bottom with a handpainted Porceleyne Fles Delft mark, a factory batch number (covered vase: 725, both beaker vases: 808), a painter's signature (covered vase: UKU, from Ms. U.R. Kuczinski who worked from 1956 till 2004 at De Porceleyne Fles; both beaker vases: LdB, from Ms. L.A. de Bloois who worked from 1959 till 1986 at De Porceleyne Fles) and a year code (CR = 1972). The lid of the covered vase is marked on the inside with the mark of Ms. Kuczinski, which shows that the lid is the original lid that came with the vase. All vases (and the lid) also have the letters RBG inscribed in the ceramic, which is a factory code for the type of ceramic and decoration (RBG stands for "Rood Blauw Goud", Red Blue Gold, which is the code for the Pijnacker decoration).
Condition: excellent, as new, nearly mint. The vases have no damages, restorations or visible wear, aside from some wear on the unglazed footrings. The glaze is in an excellent condition, without any crazing and with a nice gloss. The gold and red overglaze paint is bright and strong, without any fading. The inside of the vases is also very clean, as new.
This is a rare and beautiful garniture set in exceptionally good condition. It is not easy to find this large model garniture set of De Porceleyne Fles painted in Pijnacker style and it is almost impossible to find it in such a good condition. The vases are very well painted, with both painters known to have specialised in the Pijnacker decorations at De Porceleyne Fles. This set will add class and style to any interior.
Made by: De Porceleyne Fles
Place of manufacture: Delft, the Netherlands
Year of manufacture: 1972
Method of decoration: handpainted (underglaze and overglaze)
Size: covered vase: height 37,0 cm, diameter 20,0 cm (capacity 4 litres); beaker vases: height 25,5 cm, diameter 17,5 cm (capacity each 2 litres)
Weight: covered vase: 1,90 kg, each beaker vase: 1,02 kg (total weight of the set: 3,94 kg)
Additional pictures of the objects can be provided if required.
Current catalogue price: The vase models that make up this garniture are still produced by De Porceleyne Fles today, but only in Delft Blue and polychrome colours. You can find the current price for new pieces on the website of De Porceleyne Fles (Royal Delft) here:
- blue and white version: https://royaldelft.com/en/shop/jar-with-lid-12/ and https://royaldelft.com/en/shop/vase-11/
- polychrome version: https://royaldelft.com/en/shop/jar-with-lid-18/ and https://royaldelft.com/en/shop/vase-42/
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About De Porceleyne Fles:
De Porceleyne Fles (also known as Royal Delft) is the most renowned Delftware factory in the Netherlands that still produces handpainted Delftware today. It is the only remaining factory of the 32 earthenware factories that were established in Delft during the 17th century. Founded in 1653, it has been active without interruption for over 365 years.
The quality of the painting of De Porceleyne Fles (PF) Delftware is very high, with painters receiving many years of training before they can start painting the designs. It takes no less than ten years of training / experience to become a 'master painter', who paint the more complicated designs and landscapes / sceneries.
De Porceleyne Fles produces Delftware in a variety of styles, which include beside the well-known blue and white (Delft blue) style amongst others a polychrome style, an imari style (Pijnacker), a green style (Delvert) and a 'famille Noire' style (Black Delft).
Besides the traditional (and expensive) handpainted Delftware PF nowadays also produces more modern and affordable lines of Delftware whereby the decoration is put onto the product by hand by means of a screenprinted transfer. These products are then called "handmade" instead of "handpainted".
More information can be found on the website of Royal Delft: https://royaldelft.com/en/about-royal-delft/.
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This beautiful set will be very carefully packed and send by tracked and insured mail.
If you are not satisfied with your purchase, you may contact us within 14 days from the delivery date to return the item. If the item is returned in its original condition, we will issue a refund for the total purchase price of the item (return shipping costs are however not covered).
1-2 business days
Buyers are responsible for any customs and import taxes that may apply. I'm not responsible for delays due to customs.
Just contact me within: 14 days of delivery
Ship items back to me within: 30 days of delivery
But please contact me if you have any problems with your order.
Buyers are responsible for return shipping costs. If the item is not returned in its original condition, the buyer is responsible for any loss in value.
We will send off your order within one or two working days. We use the standard parcel service of PostNL to ship our parcels. You can find their estimated delivery times per country here www.postnl.nl/en/customer-service/international-delivery-times-post-and-parcels/. In the fourth column you can find the delivery times of the standard service (in estimated business / working days). Please keep in mind that customs / import procedures in non-EU countries can sometimes add an extra week (or even two weeks) to the delivery times.
On request we can also ship with UPS for a faster delivery: expedited (within 10 days) or express (within a few days). There are no custom delays when shipping with UPS. Contact us before the purchase to get a quote.
Broken ceramics is a thing we do not like! Not only is it a waste of time and money, but it also (often) means the end for a rare and unique item, which was treasured and cared for by their previous owners. So we really want to avoid any damages during shipping!
We have lots of experience of shipping ceramics, and we have seen what works and what does not work to protect ceramics during transit. If we ship multiple items in one package, each item is carefully wrapped and kept well seperated from the other items. We use large boxes, with plenty of buffer all around the items, so the packages can withstand a lot of abuse. All our packages should be able to cope with a 1,5 m drop without the items getting damaged.
Yes we do. We re-use packaging materials as much as possible, which means we rarely have to buy new materials for our packaging. Only foam peanuts are sometimes bought by us, in which case we choose starch based peanuts which are fully biodegradable, non-toxic and water-soluble.
Each year, we calculate the greenhouse gas emissions in CO2-equivalents caused by our shipping. We multiply that amount by 150% and then offset it in certified CO2 compensation projects based on tree planting / reforestation in Bolivia and Uganda. See https://treesforall.nl/en/project/ for more information on the projects.
First of all, don't let them fall! Always handle them in a mindful way and put them in spots where they cannot be accidentally bumped over when cleaning or vacuuming. Some people put some (clean) sand in vases to make them more stable.
Second, don't clean them too often! Underglaze painted Gouda and Delftware can be perfectly cleaned with water if necessary, but often just dusting them off or polishing them up a bit with a soft dry cloth is enough. Overglaze painted items should not be cleaned too often.
The colours of ceramics do not fade in sunlight, so you can put them in bright spots where they look good. But do avoid large temperature differences, which will cause increased crazing in many Delftware and also Gouda type pieces.