JVV 0461
Amsterdam, dated 1808
The Two Romans tile factory
Mark/inscription: GK on back
The oval-shaped plaque has a scalloped, raised rim and is painted in polychrome. Behind an open greenish-yellow curtain, the biblical setting of The Last Supper is depicted, executed mainly in purple. The Bible inscription 'Math. 26 . 20' is reserved on the front of the blue tablecloth. The scene is framed in a blue band with floral and leaf motifs and a white band. The inside of the raised rim is purple, the outside is purple marbled.
Dimensions: length 49 cm / 19.29 in., width 63 cm / 24.80 in.
Explanatory note
Besides the mass production of tiles in the eighteenth century, tile factories in Amsterdam manufactured other items on a small scale such as plaques, trays, trivets and game-tiles. Also tea caddies, tobacco boxes, models of sleighs and shoes, and animal statues like cows, goats and dogs were made. Plaques form the largest part of this incidental production, and can clearly be distinguished from Delft examples stylistically and technically. Stylistically they are related more to tiles, tiles pictures and other items from Amsterdam, than to plaques from Delft.
There are also important differences in production techniques. Delft plaques are molded in plaster molds and fired on pins in saggars. The plaques from Amsterdam were not fired in saggars, but standing on their side on two small clay cylinders between rows of tiles. The back of the plaques leaned against the tiles. This method of production leaves different marks on the plaques from the pin marks on Delft plaques and these are important keys to establish Delft from non-Delft production. Using molds enables a Delftware pottery to produce the same shape repeatedly, up to dozens or even hundreds of times, depending on how long the molds could be used. The Amsterdam plaques are all handmade and can therefore be considered as incidental products instead of items regularly produced. This plaque was made at the Amsterdam tile factory The Two Romans. This company was the only tile factory still operating in 1808. It is not known whether the initials on the reverse refer to the painter who executed the plaque or the person who ordered it.
Literature
J.D. van Dam, ‘’Delfts’ uit de provincie. Aardewerk uit Hollandse tegelfabrieken’, in: Vormen uit Vuur, no. 168/169 (1999-3-4), pp. 3-107
