A large Dutch Delft baluster vase and cover, De Paauw factory, circa 1700

Decorated in blue and green with details in red and yellow with a peacock amidst flowering shrubs surrounded by scattered birds and insects in flight, above a stiff leaf border, the shoulder with a band of pendant motifs enclosing flower heads, the domed cover similarly decorated, 53cm high (cover restored) (2)

Provenance:
The Property of a Spanish Noble Family

The De Paauw factory was founded in 1651 in the east of the city of Delft. Marion van Aken-Fehmers in her seminal book 'Delfts Aardewerk, geschiedenis van een nationaal product' (2001) describes the history of the factory in detail. The success of the factory can be measured at least in part by the rapid succession of owners. From 1701, the Kam family took ownership of the factory and under the leadership of father and son Gerrit and David Kam, the factory flourished. Like many Dutch delft potters, the Paauw factory produced sought-after blue and white objects designed after Chinese blue and white example. Another lucrative branch of the production of the Paauw factory were pieces decorated in berettino with a blue ground-colour picked out in lighter decorative schemes of flowers much in the style of Nevers production. The ambitious Paauw factory was responsible for several technical developments in the production of Dutch Delftware, which also included experiments with polychrome colours in grand feu, which were very hard to manage. In this vase, we can see blue, green and yellow tones, and traces of the cold-decorated red too. From an inventory of the factory and house contents from 1725 and documented minutely by Van Aken-Fehmers (op.cit. pp. 160-163), it becomes clear that in the living room on a large cabinet, there was a large Kaststel or garniture of vases. It is tempting to think this vase would have been one of that type. It is noted by Van Aken-Fehmers (op.cit. p. 162) that the factory was producing eight-sided large garnitures. Examples of these kinds of polychrome wares are rare, and only a few vases with polychrome grand feu colours are known today, a fully marked garniture previously in the collection of Dr. F. H. Fentener van Vlissingen (1882-1962), is now with Aronson Antiquairs.