In Rundāle Palace, you often hear two erroneous notations – ‘Dutch stoves’ in relation to the blue-painted tile stoves and ‘Delft tiles’ upon entering the Duke’s tiled bathrooms. Although mainly tableware and tiles were made in Delft, visitors often refer to all blue-painted products on white glaze as ‘Delft blue’ and allude to all tiles made in Holland as ‘Delft tiles’.
Tile manufacturing in Holland in the 17th–18th century
The development of tile manufacturing in Holland was closely linked to political events: the subjugation by Spain in 1556, the subsequent Dutch War of Independence and the division of territory. The origins of tile manufacturing can be traced back to Antwerp where craftsmen from Italy, proficient in majolica technique, had settled at the time, while connections with Spain contributed to the spread of Moorish pottery. In 1579, following the prolonged War of Independence, the northern Dutch provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Overijssel, Friesland and Groningen separated from the Spanish-administered territory and formed the Union of Utrecht. In 1581, the Republic of the United Netherlands grew out of it and bolstered Protestantism. However, in 1585 Antwerp separated from the Republic and joined the southern provinces where Catholicism prevailed. Many Protestants emigrated to Holland from the southern provinces, among them traders and craftsmen from Antwerp. Amsterdam became the major trading port, and in 1604 the East India Company, established in 1602, began to import porcelain wares from China. Dutch craftsmen tried to imitate these wares using faience. To resemble Chinese porcelain, blue colour began to dominate in Dutch tile painting, which until the 16th century had been multi-coloured.
Tiles were popular all over Europe, and from 1665 to 1800 Holland exported a vast number of tiles. As the sea was the main route of transport, a lot of Dutch tiles ended up in Northern Germany. From nearby places, such as Hamburg, they were transported further afield to Denmark, Sweden, Danzig and St. Petersburg. Often tiles were used simply as a ballast for ships. Active transportation also took place along the Rhine River, which together with its tributaries crosses the Netherlands, as well as the Elbe River from Hamburg.
Tiles were manufactured in several parts of Holland, such as Haarlem, Amsterdam, Enkhuizen and Horn in North Holland; Rotterdam, Delft, Gouda and Dordrecht in South Holland; Middelburg and Utrecht in Zeeland; and since 1650 in three locations in Friesland –Makkum, Harlingen and Bolsward. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the demand for Dutch tiles was so great that several workshops were needed to meet it. According to the researcher Jan Pluis, there were about 200 tile workshops in Holland.
In Holland, tiles were a popular wall decoration in the homes of wealthy citizens because due to the humid climate plaster was always stained. Initially, in Dutch houses only the lower or socle strip of the wall was tiled, then a wider part of the wall as a panel, until it was considered practical to completely cover whole walls and, of course, area around the fireplace.
Manufacturing of Dutch tiles
The faience mass for tile making consists almost entirely of white clay with the addition of lime and ground quartz sand. Such clay deposits are found in Bavaria, Saxony and the Czech Republic, as well as in Cornwall in England, while the Dutch used clay from the local riverbanks and Lake Ijsselmeer. Tiles were formed from the faience mass using a wooden frame. To avoid deformation while cutting the tiles, nails were punched in the corners of each tile and their marks remained visible even after firing. Initially the tiles were fired in the so-called bisque firing temperature, then glazed with tin-glaze and painted. After painting, they were fired again for the second time, during which the painting melted into the glaze.
Tiles were painted using stencils (‘spons’ in Dutch) that were based on a specific engraving or drawing and had small perforations along the contour lines. By applying crushed charcoal filled in a special bag to these areas, the contours of drawing were transferred on to the fired tile that had been coated with tin-glaze.
- Forming frame and roller for clay
- Rolled clay plate and moulding pad
- Knife for cutting the right size
- Tile after first firing
- Tin-glazed tile
- Linen bag with charcoal powder
- Scene on tile made with perforated stencil
- Special brush for perfecting drawing
- Perfected drawing
- Painted tile
- Tile after firing
The image was then perfected with a brush. Painting was mostly developed using a cobalt pigment, which gave it a bright blue hue, although manganese was also popular and provided a pinkish-purple colour. Each stencil was used up to several hundred times and over time could become inaccurate. Masters took their stencils with them when they re-located and often re-used them after a long period, therefore it can be problematic to date tiles and determine their workshop. Dr Peter Sprangers compared the tiles in the House of Dannenstern in Riga with the Utrecht tiles in Rundāle and found that the tiles in Riga had been made later, around 1750, using similar stencils albeit in a different workshop in Amsterdam. Sometimes the drawing came out mirrored because the other side of the stencil had been used. Often a specific workshop can be identified by the painting on a tile’s corner elements – a bull’s head, carnation, spider (‘spin’ in Dutch) or some other motif not drawn with a stencil.
Although the country was Protestant, religious tile paintings were very common. In total, 592 Bible narratives had been depicted as tile paintings over a period of 250 years, of which 319 came from the Old Testament and 273 from the New Testament. Among them popular topics or more expressive events stand out. Tiles can often be found in church sacristies, for example, Dutch tiles are in the sacristy of St. Peter’s Church in Riga.
Tile workshops in Utrecht
The origins of Utrecht’s tiles date back to 1616 when Jan Overmeer founded the ‘Het Sint Mariabolwerk’ workshop outside the city’s western wall. In 1659, manufacturing was taken over by Johann de Bruyne the Elder. In 1664, Utrecht’s oldest workshop moved to Bemuurde Weerd district in the northern part of the city where the Vecht River was the main route to Amsterdam and helped to develop a wider trade. In 1672, the workshop was taken over by Johann de Bruyne the Younger. Under his management, tiles featured painted depictions of children’s games, landscapes and coats of arms of various cities, small animals and riders. In 1696, the workshop was taken over by Willem van Maurik from Amsterdam. In the same year, it was converted into a brick factory and closed in 1719.
The Agter ‘t Weystraat workshop on the south side of Utrecht was founded in 1642 by Adriaen van Oort of Groningen. He was influenced by Klaas Wijtmans who had set up a tile workshop in Rotterdam in 1613. Van Oort founded the workshop together with one of his sons. Adriaen Claess and Jan Wielandt moved from Amsterdam to begin work at the workshop, the latter had previously worked at the Maria Bolwerk workshop and was also a plate decorator. In 1676, the manufactory was taken over by van Oort’s other son Gerard; in 1717 – by Isaak van Oort and in 1734 – by Anna van Oort. In 1736, Anna married Cornelius Anton Wachendorff, and he became the manager. The workshop continued to operate until 1844.
Van Oort’s workshop executed large special orders for Portugal, while several orders from St. Petersburg were also registered in the first quarter of the 18th century. The workshop is renowned for its rural scenes with shepherds and mythological scenes, although in the early 18th century it also manufactured tiles with biblical scenes. It is in this workshop that the tiles displayed in Rundāle Palace were made.
From the middle of the 17th century Utrecht and other Dutch faience workshops focused mainly on tile manufacturing, while the production of dishes – plates, bowls, jugs, vases – and other decorative faience items was the specialty of Delft’s workshops. Throughout the 19th century, there were several faience workshops in Utrecht that also manufactured tiles, plates and bricks.
Utrecht tiles in Rundāle Palace
When the Duke of Courland Ernst Johann placed an order for his new summer residence in Rundāle, his choice was probably influenced by what he had seen in St. Petersburg. The arrival of Dutch tiles in St. Petersburg was motivated by the interest of the Emperor of Russia Peter I (the Great). In 1697, he was studying shipbuilding in Holland and became acquainted with Dutch houses with tiled walls. After comparing the main characteristics of climate, he concluded that in St. Petersburg tiles would also serve a purpose not only as a decorative element but as a practical cover for damp walls. Thus, many tiles were transported to Russia. They were delivered in large numbers to the palaces of Peter I in St. Petersburg and Peterhof, while in the palace of the Tsar’s favourite Alexander Menshikov even the ceiling was covered with tiles during the works from 1717 to 1720. This palace also features Utrecht tiles with biblical scenes from an earlier period that are identical to the tiles in Rundāle Palace.
The Duke Ernst Johann had already ordered tiles for his privies and bathrooms at the start of construction works. The Duke’s private apartments have three groups of these sanitary facilities. Two of them are split into two rooms – an anteroom for bathing and a privy at the back separated with a glazed door. Rastrelli’s project marks its location with a square toilet seat. On the bathroom walls, white tiles alternate with painted tiles collected in framed panels. There is another bathroom adjacent to the Duke’s Dressing Room, the walls of which are decorated only with white glazed tiles.
According to the Dutch tile researcher Peter Sprangers’ work on Utrecht tiles, it has been possible to determine that the tiles in Rundāle were made around 1738-1739. By analysing and comparing tiles in different countries, he has established that tile paintings depicted 93 scenes from the Old Testament and 108 scenes from the New Testament. The collection of tiles at Rundāle Palace provides a good sample – 57 scenes with the most popular religious stories, including 25 from the Old Testament. These are scenes from the Books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and Judges; as well as both Books of Kings and both Books of Samuel; and the Books of Jonah and Daniel, and Tobit and Judith. Scenes from the New Testament depict the Gospels of Luke, Matthew and Mark, and the Book of Revelation. Each depiction of the scene is contained within a large circle, while a so-called ox head motif is contained in the corners of each tile.
Fragments of engravings by well-known artists were often used to depict biblical scenes.
Dutch tile scenes mostly feature engravings of Matthaeus Merian from the publication ‘Icones Biblicae’ in 1625-1627, and Peter Schut’s modified versions from ‘Toneel ofte Vertooch der Bybelsche Historien’, published in Amsterdam in 1659 by Nicolaes Visscher. Several Dutch engravers have used the work of famous painters to illustrate the Bible ‘Thesaurus sacrarum historiarum Veteris Testamenti et Novi Testamenti’, published in 1585, and the Bible ‘Historiae Sacrae Veteris et Novi Testamenti’, published in 1652. Engravings of Christoph Weigel from the ‘Biblia ectypa’, published in Augsburg in 1695, could have also been used as examples for scenes.
Only a few elements of the abovementioned engravings are depicted on the tiles in Rundāle Palace. Other scenes depict specially drawn compositions of two or three figures in a landscape, regardless of the actual location of the Bible story. Similar figures were also painted on tiles in the Chapel of Bauska Cemetery; made in Bolsward and currently stored in the collection of Rundāle Palace Museum. These tiles depict an identical landscape with a matching horizon.
The second type of Utrecht tiles, called the shepherd series, forms a separate panel area in one of the Duke’s bathrooms and a band of panels in another bathroom. These tiles depict rural landscape with a single female or male figure in a smaller circle and a tiny ‘spider’ motif in the corners. In the 18th century, tiles with shepherds and rural scenes were cheaper than tiles with biblical scenes. The most expensive tiles were those featuring a Bible story together with an inscription indicating its source.
The third type of tiles can only be identified from certain discoveries. These are fragments of tiles from demolished palace furnaces, which covered the base of its ornate leg frame and were also placed around the columns. This group of tiles features landscapes – a lake or river with fishermen, as well as scenes with hunters.
According to the resolution of the Board of Monuments in 1938, tiles were removed from the walls and taken to the Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia to be preserved. Prior to removal tiles were photographed. The arrangement of decorative tile panels was replicated during the restoration in 1993. Original tiles were placed on the southern wall in one of the Duke’s bathrooms. All other walls were tiled with copies of tiles made in Leningrad. In 1985, original tiles with fitting scenes were randomly placed on all walls of the Duke’s third bathroom.
Analogies
Tiles from the Utrecht workshop have survived in many parts of Poland. Identical tiles to the ones in Rundāle Palace are in the staircase of Nieborów Palace; in Gardzienice Palace – Utrecht landscape and shepherd tiles (1720–1730); in Krzyżowice Eulenburg Palace – Utrecht tiles with fields, shepherds and biblical scenes (1730–1750); in Żuławy Wiślane – landscape tiles made in Utrecht in 1730.
Tile stoves in Rundāle Palace in 1738, 1739. Two tile stoves from the ‘Italian Salon’ and one from the ‘The Room with Governors’ Portraits’
Russian masters working on the stoves of Rundāle from 1738 to 1739 under the management of Ivan Ushakov, referred to their tile stoves as Hamburg stoves because they depicted motifs typical of Dutch tiles but their form resembled stoves necessary for the climate of Northern Germany. Therefore, the commonly used term ‘Dutch’ or ‘Delft’ stoves is incorrect in relation to the cobalt blue tile stoves. Stoves are not typical in Holland and fireplaces decorated with painted tiles were used instead. However stove tile scenes can relate to the scenes depicted on Dutch tiles, often featuring similar motifs with mills, buildings, human figures, animals and birds. It is possible that the development of this type of stove was directly related to the transportation of Dutch tiles through the port of Hamburg, which gave impetus for narratives in painting.
Author: Lauma Lancmane,
RPM long-term employee
References:
Андреева, Екатерина Александровна. Петербургская резиденция А. Д. Меншикова в первой трети XVIII в. Санкт-Петербург, 2013 Biblia Ectypa. Augsburg, 1695 Дорофеева, Л. П. История плитковых интерьеров дворца Меншикова в Санкт-Петербурге на Васильевском острове. http://www.reenactor.ru/ARH/PDF/Dorofeeva.pdf Historiae Sacrae Veteris et Novi Testamenti. Amsterdam, 1652 Oczko, Piotr. The Scripture on Tiles. Dutch Tiles as an Example of the Biblical Culture of Everyday in the Republic. Krakow, 2015 Sprangers, Peter. Utrechtse tegels 1600–1900. Utrecht, 2013 „Thesaurus sacrarum historiarum veteris testamenti et Novi Testamenti”, 1585 Toneel ofte Vertooch der Bybelsche Historien. Amsterdam, 1659
https://fliesenbibel.de http://www.geschichte-der-fliese.de/niederlande.html https://www.holyhome.nl/bijbeltegels.html https://rohardus.com/faiencetegels-nl http://bibletile.my.coocan.jp https://www.spijkertegels.nl
20.05.2024