This fortnightly feature was published on November 22

Decorative Delft pottery

The niche in the wall displays Delft blue and white pottery with a little Dutch girl on the extreme left and a cow on the extreme right. Initially made by man largely for utilitarian reasons, pottery today has stepped out of the dining area and into the drawing room, as something that needs to be displayed, contends Harkiran Sodhi

IN an attempt to beautify our home we surround ourselves with things that are pleasing to the eye and a marvel when they were first created. Decoration pieces embellish the home and make various areas more interesting to the eye.

Pottery items are coveted, bought and displayed with pride. Initially made by man largely for utilitarian reasons, pottery today has stepped out of the dining area and into the drawing room, as something that needs to be displayed.

One of the primary reasons for pottery being thus elevated is the fact that different types of pottery have become famous in their own right. They are even referred to by specific names. Secondly, if the pottery is an old or limited edition piece, then the antique value of the piece qualifies it as something worthy of being displayed.

High up on the list in popularity among the pottery that is avidly coveted and fit to display in your drawing room is the blue and white series. This type of pottery was found in many places around the world but each one was differentiated by the colour, motifs, shapes or the the style of making the piece.

Blue and white pottery is largely divided into two main classifications, the European and the Asian. The Netherlands, England, and Italy are some of the countries in Europe which produced blue and white pottery. Those in Asia are China, Japan, India and Egypt.

Handmade pottery of the type found today was hard fired and burnished and dates back to as early as 6500B.C. Wheel-made and decorated pottery, dates back to about 3000 BC. Initially pottery was painted (or glazed with advancements) to make it waterproof and safe to store liquids in. However, glazing solely for decorative purposes soon followed.

Paints used in the early pottery were oxides. N tin oxide gave a white colour, from cobalt came blue which ranged in shade from a grey-blue to a brilliant sapphire, while cuprous oxide yielded a range of greens. Colour variants were achieved by introducing various elements during the process. Thus, wet wood thrown into the kiln, yielded carbon monoxide, which made the cupric oxide turn into a bluish red colour.

In the underglaze method, the pottery was first shaped and fired then painted. It was coated with a glaze and fired again. This second firing, at a lower temperature than the first, was sufficient to fuse the glaze. In the case of tin-glazed objects, it was shaped, fired, then coated with a tin-glaze, painted and then fired again. The painting in this case needed a sure and steady hand, as painting on raw glaze could not be erased.

Famous among the European blue and white pottery is the one that is made in The Netherlands. Called Delft pottery, it was made in a town by that name in Holland from where it was then introduced into England. This is why the term Delft is often used for tin-glazed wares produced in both The Netherlands as well as in England.

Blue and white pottery was first manufactured in The Netherlands from the end of 16th century. The pottery that was made earlier from the region was influenced by the Italian style and painted in a similar fashion with high temperature colours. Therefore it was called the Italian majolica.

Chinese cargo ships carrying blue and white pottery of the Ming dynasty (called carrack porcelain) were captured by the Dutch. This set the trend for blue and white pottery being manufactured in Delft.

The Delft blue and white pottery that was subsequently made was unashamedly copied from the Chinese masterpieces. Often the Dutch pieces were given an additional transparent lead glaze to further enhance the resemblance to the original.

Popular among the delft blue and white pottery were small figures of birds and animals, shoes, parrots, violins and delightful cow-shaped milk jugs.

Towards the end of the 18th century, several factories were opened and they started producing by then well-known Delftware, including many reproductions of the earlier popular styles.

Blue and white porcelain, undoubtedly, has a charm quite its own. Possibly the more appealing factor than its visual appeal is the fact that behind each little piece or curio that you may have picked up lies a lot of history.