Inspired by Chinese Glazes

A hundred years ago, before the building that currently houses Kunstmuseum Den Haag existed, director Hendrik van Gelder was collecting ‘world ceramics’. He was keen to show the non-western sources that inspired the techniques and designs of Dutch ceramics.

Besides the well-known links between blue-and-white Delftware and Chinese porcelain, he also collected early Chinese pottery made before 1600. Glazes in black, green (celadon) and simple white, and also drip glazing and delicate craquelé were popular in Europe, and Dutch and French ceramicists often imitated them from the 1920s onwards. Chinese glazes are a timeless source of inspiration that still influence ceramics today.