With handles consisting of entwined snakes and a cover fitted with two tiers of nozzles for flowers, this vase belongs to a group of impressive Delft show pieces on stands made during the time that the Dutch stadtholder William of Orange and his wife Princess Mary Stuart were co-sovereigns of the United Kingdom. Many of these ambitious designs were created at De Grieksche A (Greek A) factory when it was owned by Adrianus Kocx (1687–1701). Amusingly, the decoration on the cover includes a multi-nozzled flower vase. The original base, presumably decorated with ornament to match, is lost.

Bacchus enfant, couronné de pampres, est assis sur les genoux d'une nymphe derrière laquelle est debout Mercure et qu'entourent trois suivantes. A droite, perspective de jardin ; à gauche, sous-bois en forêt. Bordure à fleurs, fruits et oiseaux polychromes sur fond brun.

The Holy Family, pausing on their escape from King Herod’s massacre, is a moment from the life of Christ favored since the Renaissance for its ability to communicate the tender care with which Christian faith must be nurtured, and to inspire devotion through the figure of the infant Christ. Everything is focused on nourishing the Christ Child. The Virgin acts as his throne, while Joseph offers him a pomegranate. The angel at left presents more fruits that seem just to have been harvested by the three putti in the tree behind. A donkey takes a protective position behind the group and even the little dog at the Virgin’s feet seems solicitous of the child’s well-being. Here devotion to the faith is represented in instantly accessible terms, as care and attention to a child. In the last decade of her life, Roldán specialized in created modelled and painted groups of exquisite refinement—"jewels of sculpture," she called them—for private devotion at the royal court in Madrid.

Le Cheval rayé mordu par un tigre ; le cheval rayé, tourné vers la gauche, est placé devant un hippopotame ; à côté de lui, court une gazelle ; près d'elle, un arbre garni d 'oiseaux ; au premier plan, une rivière, des oiseaux, poissons, et animaux divers. De part et d'autre, deux indiens, dont l'un, à droite, tire de l'arc vers la gauche, et l'autre, à gauche, lance un javelot. Bordure imitant un cadre de bois sculpté.

A gauche, un arbre près duquel se cabre le cheval isabelle, et derrière lequel se tient un éléphant, la trompe levée ; au premier plan, un enfant noir ; à droite, une femme noire ; plus à droite un indien tenant un chameau (partiellement refait). Première bordure, imitant un cadre de bois sculpté

The glass panels that frame this mirror are decorated with verre eglomise that has engraved decoration on gold leaf on the underside.

Garnitures consisting of three, five, or seven vases were made for decorative purposes to be placed on top of cabinets and mantelpieces, and a garniture of large vases might even have stood in front of the fireplace during the summer months. This five-piece group is composed of a covered vase, two double gourd vases, and two beakers. The middle section on all five is painted in blue on a white ground with scattered clusters of spring flowers that seem random but are in fact carefully placed to form different diaper patterns. The borders at the bases of the vases are decorated with scrollwork and floral and leaf ornament reserved on a dark blue ground. Under the lip of the beakers and at the shoulders of the vases, similarly painted in reserve, are lambrequin motifs enclosing fruit bowls. As one would expect from De Metaale Pot, one of the leading factories in Delft, both the potting and the quality of the glaze on these vessels are outstanding. Established in 1670 by Willem Cleffius, De Metaale Pot continued under several owners until sometime between 1771 and 1775. The factory produced its most brilliant work between 1691 and 1724, under the ownership of Lambertus van Eenhoorn (1651-1721) and then his widow, Margaretha Teckmann.

1690~, Delft

1690~, Delft

Description