Colonial Homes and Their Furnishings

by Mary Harrod Northend

There was another and perhaps more potent factor in the decline of the Dutch Delft industry; the very success of Delft potters became their ruin. The market was glutted with their products, and there ceased to be the same demand for it as formerly. Gradually, the English ware, made of better clay, although cheaper in price, supplanted the Dutch ware, even in Holland, and as early as 1760 the struggle for existence began among the Dutch potteries. Of the thirty establishments existing in the beginning of the century, only eight were working in 1808, and most of these soon after stopped.

The most common pieces made, in point of numbers, were the Delft plates. Some excellent examples of these are found in the Page collection at Newburyport, one, a peacock plate, being a good example of Dutch Delft in one of its most popular patterns. Another shows the design of a basket of flowers, and this same adornment is on an old English platter, a piece that deserves not only a compliment to its beauty, but also a tribute to its Dutch-English durability, since within a few years it has been used to hold all of a New England boiled dinner.

Delft tile was produced almost as commonly as plates, although at first it was used to illustrate many designs essentially Dutch, and also religious subjects. It is on record that the Boston News Letter of 1716 advertised the first sale of "Fine Holland Tile" in America, and in that same paper, three years later, is a notice of "Dutch Tile for Chimney." From that date on, all through the century, one may find recurring advertisements of chimney tiles, on the arrival of every foreign ship. They must have been imported in vast numbers in the aggregate, and they were not expensive, yet they are rare in New England.

Americans have always been patrons of Delft ware, and as a result a representative lot of the very best types is found here, and while it is to be regretted that the old tiles are not included in any great numbers in this list, yet those preserved are eminently satisfactory.

An English writer has said that controversy always makes a subject interesting. Lowestoft was already so enchanting a topic that the searchlight of exposition was scarcely needed to reveal additional charms.

Of the several wares that have been labeled Lowestoft, there seem to be four distinct varieties. There is the Simon-pure, soft-paste, Lowestoft china, made and decorated in the town of Lowestoft; there is the so-called Lowestoft, which is purely Oriental, being both made and decorated in China; there is probably ware made in China and decorated in Lowestoft; and there is probably ware made in Holland and decorated in Lowestoft. All of these may bear the printed name of the town, since members of the company which traded in them resided at that place. Doubt has been cast upon every one of these four wares, but the first two, at least, seem to be cleared of all uncertainty.

For the last half of the eighteenth century, a factory existed at Lowestoft. This is true, beyond the shadow of a doubt. It was, however, a small factory, employing at its best but seventy hands, and having but one oven and one kiln. It is simply impossible that great quantities of hard-glaze porcelain should have been brought from overseas, to be decorated, and then fired in this one small kiln. If the whole output charged up to Lowestoft had been really hers, the factory must needs have been the largest in England, which it certainly was not.

The first ware produced was of a dingy white, coarse, and semi-opaque. The glaze was slightly "blued" with cobalt, and speckled with bubbles and minute black spots, which seemed to show careless firing. When viewed by transmitted light, the pieces had a distinctly yellowish tinge. There was never any distinctive mark, as in the case of Crown Derby.

About 1790 a change for the better took place in the character of the ware. Certain French refugees, driven from their own country by the lawlessness of the great Revolution, began to come into England. One of these men, who was named Rose, obtained employment at the Lowestoft works, where he soon became head decorator, and introduced taste as well as delicacy of touch into the product. Underneath many Lowestoft handles will be found a small rose, which denotes that the work was done by him. The rose is his mark, but before this was known, people supposed that it merely represented the coat of arms for Lowestoft borough, which was the Tudor rose.

Roses set back to back appear on the highest grade of Lowestoft china; and at its best the ware was finer than any sent out by Bow and Chelsea. The Lowestoft red is of a peculiar quality, varying from carmine to ashes of roses, and often approaching a plum color. Roses and garlands of roses in these lovely hues of pink and purple distinguish this china. Dainty and familiar are the flowers and sprigs in natural colors, with delicate borders in color and gold.