De Porceleyne Fles Delft handpainted imari "Pijnacker" vase

Beautiful handpainted medium sized jug-shaped decorative vase made in 1986 by De Porceleyne Fles in Delft. This type of vase is called a "buikje" by De Porceleyne Fles, which translates as "belly", referring to its round, bulbous shape. The vase is painted in Delft imari ("Pijnacker") style using red, blue, green and gold colours. Two elaborate Delft style flower decorations encircle the vase, showing flowering bushes / trees with fantasy Delft style flowers. The foot, collar and sprout are decorated with matching Delft style ornaments. The handle is also decorated. The painting is of high quality: precise and energetic. The vase is fully glazed, also on the inside.

The bottom of the vase is signed with a blue handpainted De Porceleyne Fles Delft mark, and in red paint a model number (G70 or C70), a painters signature (LdB, of Ms. L.A. de Bloois who worked from 1959 to 1986 at De Porceleyne Fles), and a year code (DF = 1986). There is also a small water-resistant silver and blue 'De Porceleyne Fles' sticker.

There is a small nick in the glaze near the bottle of the De Porceleyne Fles mark, which indicates that this vase was qualified by the factory as a second (second grade). We don't really understand why, since the painting is of high quality and we can't find any defects. Perhaps the reason it was qualified like this is because the two flower decorations are not aligned exactly to the left and right sides of the vase (separated by the handle). It would perhaps have been more logical if they were. But this is purely our speculation, we have no other vases of this type to compare with.

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.

Condition: excellent, as new. The vase has no damages and no visible wear. 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.

A rare and beautiful vase in great condition, with painting of high quality made by an experienced Pijnacker style painter in her last active year. Great for decoration, it will fit a variety of interior styles, from classic to modern.

Made by: De Porceleyne Fles

Place of manufacture: Delft, the Netherlands

Year of manufacture: 1986

Method of decoration: handpainted (underglaze and overglaze)

Size: height: 23,5 cm, diameter 13,0 cm, capacity 1,0 litre

Weight: 640 g

Additional pictures of the object can be provided if required.

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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://www.royaldelft.com/en_gb/.

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This beautiful item 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).