Research project P4S/251/DELFTPAINT (Research action P4S)
Context
So called Delft tin‑glazed earthenware plaques, which emerged around 1640 in the Dutch Republic, represent a distinctive form of production at the intersection of art and craft. Made during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by faience manufactories mostly located in and around Delft, they consist of a fine earthenware body coated with a white tin glaze, imitating porcelain imported from Asia, and decorated either in cobalt‑blue monochrome or in polychromy. Unlike the better‑known tile panels, these plaques are formed from a single slab and conceived as true pictures. When framed, they adorned interiors much like paintings on canvas or wooden panel. They developed during the Dutch Golden Age, marked by the flourishing of painting, drawing, and printmaking, as well as by the influence of trade with Asia through the Dutch East India Company. Their iconography is varied—landscapes, portraits, interior scenes, religious subjects, and the fashionable Asian motifs of the period. Despite their technical and artistic interest, these objects remain relatively understudied as a distinct corpus. The Royal Museums of Art and History (RMAH) hold an exceptional collection of Dutch tin‑glazed earthenware—largely made up of pieces from the Albert Evenepoel bequest of 1911—which serves as an invaluable resource for the study of these ‘porcelain paintings’.
Objectives
Building on the collection of the Royal Museums of Art and History, the DELFTPAINT project undertakes a scientific study of Dutch tin‑glazed earthenware plaques produced between 1640 and 1800, situating them within a broader network of European museum collections. It seeks to fill a research gap, as these objects are often overlooked despite their significance for the history of visual culture and the decorative arts.
Conducted in partnership with the Museum Prinsenhof Delft, the project focuses on understanding manufacturing techniques, materials, and production contexts; on distinguishing between workshops and individual practices; and on adopting a diachronic and geographic approach across Dutch production centres, notably Delft. It also foresees the development of a typology integrating materiality, iconography and function, while identifying—where possible—centres of production, workshops, and individual makers.
DELFTPAINT further aims to situate these plaques within a wider artistic and cultural framework by examining their interactions with other visual forms—painting, drawing, and printmaking—as well as their role in decorative practices and European exchange. Finally, the project investigates the reception and market for these plaques over the long term—from their manufacture to their present status as collectors’ objects—while enhancing the national and international visibility of this still under‑researched corpus.
Methodology
DELFTPAINT aims to conduct an interdisciplinary study of Dutch tin‑glazed earthenware plaques, combining art history, the history of techniques, materials analysis, and cultural history. It focuses particularly on the objects held by the Royal Museums of Art and History, set in dialogue with examples from other European collections in order to recontextualise them within broader networks of production, circulation, and use.
The programme encompasses morphometric and technical description of the plaques; assessment of their condition; microscopic examination of manufacturing marks and decoration; and the acquisition of high‑resolution images and 3D models to document the shaping processes. The characterisation of ceramic pastes, glazes, and pigments will rely on non‑invasive methods (micro‑XRF/μXRF, LA‑ICP‑MS, Raman spectroscopy, isotopic analysis) to identify recipes, raw materials, and their chronological and geographic variation.
The project will also leverage written and visual sources to identify workshops, artisans, patterns of circulation, markets, and reception of these plaques, as well as to analyze their relationship with other artistic forms. All technical and historical data will be structured in a normalised database to enable comparative and quantitative analyses. This methodology will support the development of a rigorous typology, the identification of production groups, and the integration of these objects into the broader framework of European material and visual culture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Impact & Dissemination
The project’s transdisciplinary approach will generate new knowledge about the plaques in the collection of the Royal Museums of Art and History and recontextualise them within Dutch production of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It will provide data on manufacturing and decorative techniques, materials, workshops and artisans, as well as on the use, circulation, and reception of the plaques up to the present day. Material and stylistic analyses will make it possible to establish a typology, identify production groups, and define appropriate conservation strategies.
The dissemination of results will target scholars and heritage professionals through a study day and scientific publications; students and emerging artists through pedagogical and practice‑based collaborations; and the wider public through an exhibition, its catalogue, and an online presentation of the collection. These actions will enhance the visibility, understanding, and scientific and heritage impact of the collection at national and international levels.
