Delftware Tiles [Hardcover]

Hans Van Lemmen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1997

Italian potters brought the art of making tin-glazed tiles to the Low Countries in the early sixteenth century. Native potters copied the technique and in the seventeenth century they began to manufacture the distinctive blue and white Dutch tiles. Huge quantities were produced during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, first in the Netherlands and later in Britain. Because the best tiles and other tin-glazed pottery came from Delft, the name of the town became associated with this ware. This book traces the history of delftware tiles, describes how they were made and explains the differences between Dutch and English delftware tiles.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hans van Lemmen was born and educated in the Netherlands before moving to Britain. He is an established author on the history of tiles and architectural ceramics and has lectured on the subject in Britain and elsewhere. He is a founder member and presently chairman of the British Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society. He has written several titles for the Shire list on tiles and architectural ceramics. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover; First Edition edition (September 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879517913
• ISBN-13: 978-0879517915
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 9.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,327,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and beautiful book on Dutch tiles., October 13, 1999

By 

Stephen J. Van Hook (Bowling Green, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Delftware Tiles (Hardcover)

Hans van Lemmen has put together a beautiful and very readablebook on Dutch tiles. "Delftware Tiles" is well researchedand lavishly illustrated with color photos of all kinds of Dutch tiles from the 16th century to the present. No Delft or tile collector's library is complete without this book. It's also a great coffee table book. The 32 page paperback is an earlier and completely different work by van Lemmen -- it's a good primer on Delftware tiles, but it's much smaller and all in black & white.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful photographs, survey history...., September 1, 2000

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Delftware Tiles (Hardcover)

One of the more famous 'landscape' Dutch tiles shows a man in a small boat sailing away from the viewer, up the Issel or some other river in the Netherlands. The rounded end of his boat lifts out of the water as the wind billows the sails and tilts the craft. The river surface is slighly rippling in the gentle breeze. In the distance lays a town, perhaps Deventer. When I look at this tile I feel transported to a place and time long ago.

The Dutch produced the greatest painters in the world, and many of their works hang in museums, or in private collections out of the reach of mere mortals. Sometimes something is so beautiful you want to own it, or at least possess it a short while. What to do? Buy a tile. Dutch tiles were frequently copied from paintings and like paintings they depict landscapes, interior domestic scenes, flowers (especially tulips), ships at sea and all sorts of wonderous things.

Hans van Lemmen has compiled a nice overview of the history of Dutch tilemaking. He says it was natural for a people who had been occupied by the Spanish for a long time to have become aware of the 'Hispano-Moresque' tradition of tile making. But many other factors conspired to make tile making the "signature form of decorative art" of the Dutch. For one thing, the little country has many river banks and lots of clay. For another, during the 16th Century, many Flemish tile artisans moved to the Netherlands to set up shop and enjoy the expanding Dutch economy. Another major factor was the incredible growth of a middle class that wanted to tiles for home use.

These uses included lining fire places, mantles, and the wall areas around them, as well as the areas where candles sat, in order to prevent house fires. The Dutch also lined their cellers to prevent water seeping into them. Areas exposed to much wear and tear, such as passageways, staircases, and doors were also covered with tiles. And, in a country where hygiene is a defining national characteristic tiles were important accessories in kitchens because they were easy to clean.

van Lemmen covers about 400 years of tilemaking, with most of his emphasis on the "Golden Age" of the 16th-17th centuries. The book contains a nice balance of history and photographs of tiles and 'in situ' settings of Dutch tiles in the Netherlands and other parts of the world. This is a book for relative beginners, but beautiful enough for anyone who loves Dutch art.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Delftware Tiles by Hans van Lemmen PAPERBACK, June 28, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Delftware Tiles (Shire Albums) (Paperback)

The paper back is done completely in black and white. How sad and frustrating not to be able to see the tiles in their original colour. I am really sorry I tried to save money by buying this cheap "booklet" (32 small 6"x8" pages) instead of splurging on the hardback, which is in colour. Content was fine and informative. Order placed May 31st with BoookZine not received 'til June 28th .