JVV 0429
Delft, 1691-1700
Mark: LVE, period of Lambertus van Eenhoorn (1691-1724)
The Metal Pot pottery
The bowl has a spreading wall, stands on a straight foot and is painted in blue with a floral ornamental decor. Around the outer wall are four trapezoidal compartments, filled with a peacock in a rocky landscape with plants and flowers. The space between these compartments is filled with a flower with scroll ornaments and stylised leaves. Below the outer rim is a band with four floral cartouches interspersed with floral leafy scrolls reserved on a blue fond. Reserved floral leafy scrolls also surround the base. On the inside, a rocky landscape with a peacock and a butterfly is painted on the bottom. The wall is alternately painted with three flower branches and three butterflies.
Dimensions: diameter 30 cm / 11.81 in., height 14,5 cm / 5.70 in.
Similar examples
A slightly larger bowl of the same type with a polychrome cashmere decor is in the Kunstmuseum Den Haag (Eliëns, p. 191, no. 72).
Explanatory note
Delftware potteries manufactured different types of bowls for daily use and for decoration. The ones meant for daily use were either plain white or painted with simplified motifs. Large bowls like this one were often displayed in the home, especially on top of cupboards. After the death of the owner Lambertus Cleffius in 1691, an estate inventory was drawn up listing all the stock present in the pottery (Eliëns, pp. 194-197). It lists 345 bowls of various sizes and types, including twelve cabinet bowls (number 23) and thirty smaller ones (number 37). Sixty butter cabinet bowls (number 14) and eighty-four smaller butter cabinet bowls (number 38) are also noted. The word butter does not refer to the use, but rather to the form.
Literature
T.M. Eliëns (ed.), Delfts aardewerk. Geschiedenis van een nationaal product, Zwolle/The Hague 1999
