Plateelbakkerij Zuid-Holland (PZH) handpainted Delft Blue serving dish / tray / bowl
Beautiful handpainted ornamental serving dish / bowl in Delft blue style made in 1953 by Plateelbakkerij Zuid-Holland (PZH) in Gouda, the Netherlands. The diamond shaped dish has two blue handles and is painted underglaze with a Delft style decoration showing in the centre a fantasy garden with flowers. The edges are decorated with Delft style ornaments. The edges have a slight relief, which accentuates the painting and adds extra sheen to the glaze. Also, on the dark blue spots in the painting the paint has been thickly applied, which adds extra relief to the painting. The backside of the dish is decorated with a few Delft style ornaments.
The Delft blue Delftware of Zuid-Holland is noted for its very good quality, comparable with that of the Porceleyne Fles (Royal Delft). In comparison with the Porceleyne Fles, Zuid-Holland features a bit darker blue and the decorations are more expressive (maybe an influence from their Gouda style products, which often feature expressive, organic decorations). The glaze of PZH also has a bit darker tint, which makes it look especially good at night under incandescent light. It has a gloss and sparkle that is really unique for PZH.
The dish is signed at the bottom with a handpainted PZH mark (a house with a gate, the Lazarus gate of Gouda), a model number (5043) and the classifications "Delft Blauw" (Delft Blue) and "Holland". To the left of the PZH mark there is the year symbol for the year 1953, which is the production year. To the right of the PZH mark we find the painters signature, "Gv", which is the signature of Mr. Gerrit Nicolaas Veerman, who worked from 1918 till 1964 at PZH as a painter. Underneath the PZH mark there is an additional number (2267), which most probably is a batch number.
A beautiful decorative bowl or serving dish, which will look great on a table or upright in a cabinet. The high quality perspex display stand which is seen in the pictures will be shipped with the dish for displaying it upright.
Made by: Plateelbakkerij Zuid-Holland
Place of manufacture: Gouda, the Netherlands
Year of manufacture: 1953
Method of decoration: handpainted (underglaze)
Size: width: 33,5 cm (with handles), depth: 23,5 cm, height: 4,7 cm
Weight: 580 g
Condition: excellent, as new. There are no damages, cracks, hairlines or restorations. There is no visible wear to the glaze, which has a beautiful gloss. There is no crazing. Three small stilt marks can be found on the bottom of the dish, these are marks of the stilts where the dish was resting upon during firing. This is not a defect, but a characteristic of the artisanal way these dishes were produced.
Additional pictures of the object can be provided if required.
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About Plateelbakkerij Zuid-Holland:
Plateelbakkerij Zuid-Holland (also known as "Plazuid" or PZH) was a pottery company located in the city of Gouda which played a leading role in the development of the Gouda art pottery style during the 1900-1920 period. The factory was founded in 1898 and produced till 1910 primarily high-quality art nouveau / Jugendstil style pottery. In 1909 it developed a matt glaze technique that became characteristic for Gouda style pottery in the following decades (up till then the decoration was often painted underglaze with a high gloss finish). Production was quite successful and around 1920 over 300 people were employed by the company. Many famous names in Dutch ceramic art have created designs for Zuid-Holland.
Decline came when during 1928 a yearlong (!) labour strike of factory workers demanding higher wages struck the Gouda pottery industry. After that was resolved, the Great Depression of the 1930's kicked in. In reaction to this, production became oriented towards more simple designs and techniques and to the production of tableware instead of art pottery. After WWII the factory continued its production. Delftware (Delft Blue and polychrome styles), which had always been produced by the factory alongside its Gouda styles, became more important. The company survived up till 1965, when rising labour costs and competition from other Dutch ceramic factories such as Zenith and Goedewaagen forced a sudden closure.
More information on Plateelbakkerij Zuid-Holland (and Gouda pottery in general) can be found on this English language website: www.goudadesign.co.uk.
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This beautiful piece will be securely packed and send by tracked and 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 full refund (return 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.