Everlasting handpainted Delft Blue ceramic<\/p>\n
Famed for its architecture and art, the Netherlands now adds a
\nvariety of modern attractions to its age-old allure. KLM Royal Dutch
\nAirlines, which celebrated its 80th anniversary on Oct. 7, and the
\nNetherlands Board of Tourism invited The Jakarta Post's journalist
\nStevie Emilia on a media tour from Sept. 19 to Sept. 26 to see the
\ncountry's main attractions. Below are her report and photographs.<\/p>\n
DELFT, Netherlands (JP): Delicate blue ceramics in various
\nforms is a common thing here, available in places from small
\nstreet shops to elegant stores.<\/p>\n
Ceramics can also be seen neatly arranged in glass cabinets or
\ndisplayed in living rooms, hotels, cafes, even at Amsterdam's
\nSchiphol airport, where it decorates walls with its painted blue
\ndesigns.<\/p>\n
This kind of ceramic is known as Delft Blue, a general term
\nfor earthenware decorated in blue on a white background.<\/p>\n
According to Inge Groot Enzerink, sales and public relations
\ncoordinator of the Royal Dutch Delftware De Porceleyne Fles --
\nthe only remaining factory of the 32 earthenware factories that
\nwere established in Delft in the 17th century -- not all of the
\nDelft Blue ceramics are original. Some are even made as far away
\nas Hong Kong and Taiwan.<\/p>\n
But some people, especially tourists, do not care much about
\noriginality.<\/p>\n
\"I bought these Delft Blue as souvenirs for my friends, not
\nfor me,\" said Ursula, a German tourist.<\/p>\n
When asked whether the products she had bought were original
\nDelft Blue or not, she said: \"Honestly, I don't really care. My
\nfriends wanted me to buy these blue ceramics for them, so I
\nbought them.\"<\/p>\n
She added that she was not interested in ceramics herself. \"If
\nI want to collect works of art, I prefer paintings. At least I
\nwont be afraid they will break,\" she said.<\/p>\n
But others crave for the real Delft Blue and pack most stores
\nwhich claim to sell originals at high prices.<\/p>\n
At Royal Delft, for instance, a tobacco jar is offered at 440
\nguilders (US$212.6), while a vase might reach 795 guilders
\n($384.2).<\/p>\n
Enzerink said the factory received plenty orders for its
\nspecial editions, like pieces for Christmas and the coming
\nmillennium when it will release three millennium plates designed
\nby its master painters.<\/p>\n
\"Most people who order our special edition pieces are
\ncollectors,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The factory's main line of products range from Delftware whose
\npatterns originate in Chinese porcelain from the Ming and Kang
\nHsi dynasties, along with original Dutch land and seascapes, and
\nDelft Black, a technique of applying blue, red and yellow on a
\nblack background.<\/p>\n
Another product, Polychrome, stems from a multicolored
\ntechnique that is considered to be the successor of Italian
\nMajolica which was produced in the 16th and 17th centuries. It
\nconsists of yellow, green, blue and russet decorations. Yet
\nanother, Pijnacker, is based on a technique that owes its origin
\nto Japanese Imari porcelain and is mainly decorated in red, blue
\nand 24 carat gold.<\/p>\n
Enzerink said the number of factories producing earthenware
\nrapidly increased in the 16th century, especially after Dutch
\nseamen caught several cargoes containing Chinese porcelain. The
\nDutch East India Company also contributed to the development of
\nceramics by bringing back large quantities of Chinese porcelain
\nfrom the Far East.<\/p>\n
And soon, this type of porcelain, which was decorated in blue
\non a white background, became popular among the Dutch. Local
\npotters started to imitate them, but since porcelain was a
\nmaterial unknown in the Netherlands, they used local clay.<\/p>\n
Enzerink said at the time, ceramics showed one's status in
\nsociety and simply served for decorative purposes.<\/p>\n
\"Then, those who had ceramic collections were usually those of
\nhigh status in society,\" she said, adding that the collection
\nwould be proudly displayed to guests.<\/p>\n
When asked whether Delft Blue is simply a copy of Chinese
\nporcelain, Enzerink said confidently: \"It might be true of the
\nearly period, but now, with the development of our techniques and
\npatterns, they might be the ones who copy us.\"<\/p>\n
The production process of Delft earthenware starts with the
\ncomposition of the clay. It is made up of about 10 raw materials,
\nof which kaolin, chalk, feldspars and quarts are most essential.
\nThe raw materials are carefully mixed with water and become a
\nliquid mass.<\/p>\n
\"But due to the limited materials found here in the
\nNetherlands, we still have to import some, including clay, from
\nEngland, the Czech Republic and France,\" Enzerink said.<\/p>\n
The liquid clay is then poured into plaster molds, which
\nabsorbs the water, leaving a layer of hard clay on its interior
\nwalls. After some time, the clay, or body, is hard enough and is
\ntaken out of the mailed.<\/p>\n
After the body has been left to dry, a layer of liquid clay is
\napplied to obtain the best painting results before the product is
\nfired for the first time at a temperature of 1,160 degrees
\nCelsius. The body, which is now called a biscuit, is ready to be
\ndecorated.<\/p>\n
Delftware painters start to decorate by painting the outlines
\nof a design. After this has been done, they carefully apply the
\ndetails with special brushes made from the hairs of martens and
\nsquirrels. The paint is waterbased, enabling the painters to
\ncreate various shades of blue by adding more water.<\/p>\n
Delft Blue, for instance, is painted with a mixture which
\nmainly consists of cobalt oxide. Chemical reactions during the
\nsecond firing will turn the black paint to blue.<\/p>\n
To create Pijnacker, the colors are painted on in different
\nstages. First, the blue paint is applied, then the product is
\nglazed and fired at 1,200 degrees Celsius. The temperature is too
\nhigh for the red and gold, so the two colors have to be painted
\nafterward and then fired at the lower temperature of 800 degrees
\nCelsius.<\/p>\n
Rembrandt<\/p>\n
As of June 1st, the Royal Delft factory started the full-sized
\nproduction of Dutch painter Rembrandt's masterpiece, The
\nNightwatch, on Delftware tiles, inspired by the coming millennium
\nand the ongoing Rembrandt by Himself exhibition at the
\nMauritshuis.<\/p>\n
Two of the factory's master painters, Jos L.P.M. van de
\nGiessen and Nico de Graaf, are both graduates of the Academy of
\nArts and have been working at the factory for more than 35 years.
\nThey are currently working on the Delft Blue painting.<\/p>\n
\"The Delftware version of The Nightwatch is expected to be
\ncompleted in October of next year,\" Enzerink said.<\/p>\n
Although it's not yet completed, Delftware's Nightwatch was
\nsold to an anonymous buyer who bought it in September at an
\nundisclosed price. The price of this unique piece of art was
\nearlier estimated at half a million guilders ($241,662.6).<\/p>\n
Master painter de Graaf explained that in total, 480 tiles
\nmeasuring 18 by 18 cms were used for the painting. But during the
\nfirst stage, Delftware's Nightwatch would be larger than the
\noriginal painting.<\/p>\n
\"After the shrinking in the kiln, the painting will be the
\nsame size as the original,\" de Graaf said.<\/p>\n
Traditionally, Royal Delft is known for reproducing tile
\npaintings and pictures. However, in the almost 350 years of its
\nhistory, not once has such a large piece been made.<\/p>",
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