Delft tulip vases

Delft, 1701-1720

Marked: PAK, for Pieter Adriaen Kocks, factory ‘De Grieksche A’

An object that was specially developed in Delft for the display of flowers during the period of William and Mary is the fan-shaped flat vase. This model appears to have evolved by combining four separate narrow vases, and adding a fifth spout in the center. At least two such vases were part of the collection of Queen Mary, as is known from the discovery of the fragments of ‘twee platte bloemflesjes’ (‘two flat flower vases’) in her ‘keldertje’ at Het Loo.

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The shape of these vases is similar to the shape of Turkish vases known as sükûfedans, which were especially intended for tulips. The widened spouts can also be found in the navette, a gondola-shaped vase with three spouts that was developed in the French Nevers. There were regular contacts between  the ‘Grieksche A’ factory, where these vases were made, and Nevers, which also produced tin-glazed earthenware. It is possible that the Nevers models would have been used as a source of inspiration in the ‘Grieksche A’ and other Delft factories.

A pair of Delft flower pots

Origin: Delft, ‘The Greek A’ pottery

Marked: AK = Adriaen Kockx (Model after Daniel Marot)

Date: Circa 1686-1701

These elegant flower pots are carefully shaped according to models of large-scale garden vases, which were made in marble, cast iron or lead. The decoration of finely painted ivy twigs on the concave sections of the vases’ bodies is highly original. The curving vertical bands at the lower section of the bodies, known as ‘gordons’ in French, ‘gadrooning’ in English and ‘knerren’ in Dutch, can also be found in marble vases, but also in metal examples, including precious metals. The upper and lower border with palmettes in low relief and decorated in shades of blue , is a recurring motif in Delftware, and based on designs by Daniel Marot.

Jhr. C.H.C.A. van Sypesteijn notes in his well-known publication Oud Nederlandsche Tuinkunst, that it became fashionable from the late Medieval period to furnish gardens with fine and rare plants, generally imported from more temperate climates, and which were ill-suited for these colder Northern areas. In order to avoid digging them out in autumn and replant them in spring, it became custom to plant them in pots and vases. These were sometimes made from metal, painted in blue and white, or from red-firing clay. Van Sypesteijn suggested that these early metal flower pots were a source of inspiration for the later pots and vases of Delft earthenware.