4th edition of the Delft Ceramics Days on June 28 and 29, 2025

The weather is beautiful. Hopefully there is little wind, as that is the enemy of the approximately 75 ceramists from all over the world. Delft is organizing this important event for the fourth time. When you are finished with the ceramics, there is still so much to see in this city. Museums, an antique market along the canals, lovely terraces. But above all, Delft is a medieval city with many secrets. Be sure to enjoy this weekend with your entourage!

Delft pottery

Delft Blue is a type of faience (earthenware) with blue decoration, traditionally manufactured in Delft. It originated at the end of the 16th century as an inexpensive alternative to blue-and-white Chinese porcelain. Delft Blue quickly became very popular and experienced a golden age between 1650 and 1750, when about a hundred earthenware factories were active in Delft. The industry was wiped out around 1800 by cheaper earthenware, particularly from England (Staffordshire). Today, there are only a few factories left that produce Delft Blue in the traditional way; two of these factories are 'De Porceleyne Fles' and 'Heinen Delfts Blauw'. The traditional painting can be recognized by the mark on the bottom of the product. Other types of Delft earthenware include, for example, the multicolored Peasant Delft and Delft White. The heyday of Delft Blue and ceramics coincides with the era of Johannes Vermeer.

On May 17, 2014, Mayor Bas Verkerk received the first copy of the stamp sheet featuring Delft ceramics from PostNL. The text on the sheet margin reads: 'For 400 years, Delft earthenware has been our national product par excellence. Despite this great age, Delft Blue is still very much alive.' Royal Delft is a well-known tourist attraction in Delft, where visitors can experience the production process of Delft Blue. The Royal Delft Experience, opened in 2012, offers a glimpse into this centuries-old process. The museum and the shop attract many visitors, with the shop often receiving a visit of 15 to 30 minutes. Royal Delft attracts over 140.000 visitors annually, according to the Royal Delft Museum. This number is a combination of Dutch and international tourists who come to view the artisanal production of Delft Blue. In 2022, the number of visitors rose from 25.000 to 83.000. In 2023, the number of visitors was over 140.000. In 2024, the number of visitors increased by 12,6% to 142.000.  

Delft KLM houses (2012)

The highly coveted Delft Blue KLM houses are depicted on the stamps. Ger Jacobs, Commercial Director of PostNL, presented these unique stamps today to Harm Kreulen, Director of KLM Netherlands. The presentation took place at the 'Lane of KLM Houses' at KLM's headquarters in Amstelveen. Personalized stamps have existed for eight years now, but until now only for destinations within the Netherlands.

The Personal Stamp gives consumers and businesses the opportunity to create their own stamps with a custom design. From now on, mail destined for Europe or outside Europe ('World') can also be sent with a special Personal Stamp. For true enthusiasts and collectors, PostNL is releasing two sheets featuring the Delft Blue KLM houses. The two sheets, each containing ten stamps, depict replicas of characteristic 17th-century Dutch monuments. The Europe stamp features the house De Drie Haringen in Deventer (house 92). The World stamp features the Rembrandt House in Amsterdam (house 48).

“The great international reputation of our national airline was decisive for our choice. Moreover, the depicted miniature houses of Delft Blue porcelain, just like stamps, are a sought-after item for collectors,” said Jacobs.   Source: KLM / PostNL.  

Delft tulip vases (2022)

From 1680 onwards, tulip vases appeared on the market in all shapes: from gourd-shaped bottles and triumphal arches to bowl shapes and goddesses with spouts on their heads. The most impressive examples are called flower pyramids. They consist of spherical or square segments stacked to spectacular heights, sometimes nearly two meters. The origins of Delftware are closely linked to Oriental porcelain. Delft was one of the VOC's settlements. Large stocks of this porcelain were stored in the city's warehouses. In response, local potters developed Delft Blue, a ceramic product comparable to porcelain in shape, luster, and decoration. The design of the Delft tulip vases stamp sheet, with its rectangular character and colored areas, was created by graphic designer Jeremy Jansen from Amsterdam. “The dimensions and proportions of the stamp sheet are very interesting,” says Jansen. “Based on that, I created a grid with a division of vertical rectangles. This emphasizes the elongated character of the vases.” On the Delft tulip vases stamp sheet, the large examples are varnished, giving them a porcelain sheen, as it were. All the tulip vases reappear on the sheet margin, along with the names of the museums that have them in their collections. The background color under the name of each museum corresponds to the color under their vases.

In recent years, Jansen has become best known for the books he creates in collaboration with artists. According to him, this has common ground with the design of these stamps. “For those books, too, I work primarily with existing imagery, which allows you to pay even more attention to composition, positioning, timing, and all sorts of other aspects that I find interesting. During the design process, you are always working with balance. That is how I achieve the maximum possible, with a strong belief in the organic process that gets you there.” Source: PostNL.  

Typically Dutch – Delft Blue, AI and our favorite animals (2024)

The 'Typically Dutch – Cows' stamps were designed by the Amsterdam-based agency Total Design. Using artificial intelligence, they created a design centered around fantastical figurines in the shape of Delft Blue pottery. The designers at the agency Total Design used the AI ​​program Midjourney to combine typically Dutch subjects with various decoration styles. “Delft Blue turned out to work best,” says concept director Huub van Veenhuijzen. “Other Dutch decoration styles are too unfamiliar for AI. The results were magnificent, with dreamlike and often surreal images.” The images were created by giving AI commands with descriptions of the desired situation, the lighting, the animal's position, the viewer's position, and so on. Refinement follows, for example by making the cow's eyes larger or smaller, or by placing the animals closer together or further apart. Van Veenhuijzen: “We asked AI to convey a sense of intimacy; that is, after all, what it is all about with our favorite animals. In this way, the image tells the story of the animals we all love, the animals we enjoy caring for. Those that are close to us, both literally and figuratively.” Source: PostNL.  

<strong> More info: </strong>

4th edition of the Delft Ceramics Days on June 28 and 29, 2025: https://www.delftsekeramiekdagen.nl/site/ Royal Delft (museum) with temporary exhibition 'Industry on the Schie: From Yeast to Delft Blue – connected by water', through 19 October 2025: https://museum.royaldelft.com/ Previous heated discussion regarding the publication Delft Tulip Vases (2022): https://www.postzegelblog.nl/2022/03/26/delftse-tulpenvazen-mijns-inziens-van-ondermaatse-kwaliteit/ https://www.postzegelblog.nl/2022/04/10/weerwoord-delftse-tulpenvazen-mijns-inziens-van-ondermaatse-kwaliteit/