Self/Other’s Delftware: An Analysis of Blue and White Ceramics and their collecting in England and the Netherlands in the Nineteenth Century (1868–1901)

Dutch delftware and English delftware underwent a similar development process: they were invented in the seventeenth century; they decreased in popularity in the seventeenth century. However, hardly any research has focused on the development of delftware in the nineteenth century. Therefore, the thesis specifically pays attention on Dutch and English delftware and their respective development in the context of nineteenth-century Europe. By focusing on aspects of blue and white delftware in the late nineteenth century and how people collected it in England and the Netherlands, I will offer an analysis of what was the role of delftware in the daily lives of the upper and middle-class and discuss what it meant for them to collect the delftware. The primary sources of this thesis are books, newspapers, magazines, catalogues, diaries and advertisements from nineteenth-century England and the Netherlands. Through a combination of a theoretical review and a comparative analysis of English delftware with the Willow Pattern and Dutch delftware, this thesis hopes to contribute to the field of delftware studies.