Velsen, Sassenheim set of three handpainted Delft polychrome wall dishes
Set of three medium sized (22,5 cm) handpainted polychrome Delft style wall dishes (plates / shallow bowls) made between 1942 and 1985 by the ceramic factory Velsen located in Sassenheim, the Netherlands. The dishes are painted underglaze in a colourful polychrome style using blue, green, yellow, orange, red, purple and black colours. All three dishes have a decoration of a Delft style flower garden in the centre surrounded by leaf and flower ornaments on the edge. In addition to this, the middle dish also has an exotic bird in the flower garden. The edge of the dishes is slightly scalloped. The decorations are handpainted; it is interesting to compare the left and right dishes, which have the same design, but have quite a few differences between them (see pictures). Each dish has two small holes in their footring to put a wire through to hang them on a wall.
The backside of the dishes is signed with a handpainted Velsen mark (used until around 1985), the classifications "Delft Polychrome", "Handpainted" and "Made in Holland", a model number (1037) and also on one of the dishes a painters signature (D, from Mr. D. Dorresteijn).
A very nice set of dishes in a colourful Delft style. Nice for on the wall, but also great for on the table, or upright in a plate stand!
Made by: Keramiekfabriek Velsen (Velsen ceramic factory)
Place of manufacture: Sassenheim, the Netherlands
Year of manufacture: between 1942 and 1985 (most likely during the 1970s or 1980s)
Method of decoration: handpainted (underglaze)
Size: diameter: 22,5 cm, depth: 4,3 cm
Weight: total weight: 1190 g (left and right plates: 380 and 420 g, middle plate: 390 g)
Condition: the middle dish has a small crack which is primarily visible on the backside, but also shows up a bit on the front side (see pictures). Normally we do not sell items with cracks, but because this dish is part of nice set of three dishes and the crack is relatively small, we do offer the centre dish here together with the two other dishes. We have adjusted the price accordingly, essentially you will get the centre dish for free. The left and right dishes have no damages, except for a small chip on the backside of the left dish (see picture), which is not very noticeable. The glaze of all three dishes is in a good condition, with a nice gloss. The centre dish has some light crazing on the front and backside, the left dish has no crazing at all and the right dish has some light crazing on part of the front side.
On the back of all three dishes small kiln marks can be seen, from the stilts where the dishes were resting upon when they were baked in the oven. This is not a defect but part of the normal production process.
Additional pictures of the objects can be provided if required.
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About Velsen ceramic factory:
Keramiekfabriek Velsen was founded in 1920 in the town of Velsen, nearby Haarlem in the Netherlands. It started out as an art pottery factory called the "Kennemer Pottenbakkerij". In 1936 the name was changed to Velsen. In 1943, during the second world war, the factory was ordered to move, and was resettled in the nearby town of Sassenheim. After the war the factory started to produce mainly handpainted Delftware, both in blue & white and polychrome styles. Especially the polychrome style became its strength, because Velsen used a wider and more colourful palette of colours than most other Delftware producers. Velsen also made green Delft (green & white) and red Delft (red & white) styles, often with gold accents.
During the mid- to late-1980s the factory switched from handpainting to transfer printing with some handpainted accents. The factory mark changed accordingly from a handpainted mark to a printed mark. The factory continued to produce until 2002, when it finally was forced to close its doors.
More information (in English and in Dutch) about the Velsen factory and its products can be found on www.polychroom.nl, a website made by an enthusiastic collector of Velsen pottery.
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The dishes will be carefully packed and send by insured mail. If you buy multiple items from our shop, we will combine the shipping of these items. If the actual combined shipping costs are less than the shipping costs that you have already paid, we will refund the difference. So you will only pay the actual shipping costs.
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 price of the item (shipping costs are however not covered).
Shipping from The Netherlands
Processing time
1-2 business days
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Buyers are responsible for any customs and import taxes that may apply. I'm not responsible for delays due to customs.
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I gladly accept returns
Just contact me within: 14 days of delivery
Ship items back to me within: 30 days of delivery
I don't accept exchanges or cancellations
But please contact me if you have any problems with your order.
Conditions of return
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are your shipping times?
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 (shortened link to pdf download of PostNL): https://bit.ly/3ZHTMJ9. In the fourth column (parcels) 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 customs delays when shipping with UPS. Contact us before the purchase to get a quote.
How do you pack your items, will my item arrive safely?
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.
Do you take care of the environment?
Yes we do. We re-use packaging materials as much as possible, which means we rarely need to buy new materials for our packaging. Only foam peanuts are sometimes bought by us, in which case we prefer to use green 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 200% and then offset it in certified CO2 compensation projects based on tree planting / reforestation in various parts of the world. So far, we have offset 35,5 tonnes of CO2 emissions in projects in Bolivia and Borneo (Indonesia). See https://treesforall.nl/en/projects/ for more information on the projects.
How should I take care of my Dutch ceramics?
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.