De Porceleyne Fles

De Porceleyne Fles (The Porcelain Jar) was best known for plaques decorated with engraved copies of old master paintings until the 1870s, when owner J. Throoft (pictured left), under the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement, decided to revive the tradition of underglaze painting. Twenty years later, art director A. Le Comte brought the firm into the Art Nouveau era with Japanese influences, metallic glazes, and biscuit porcelains colored with stylized flowers and incised lines filled with gold. Designs for the company's decorative tiles also reflected turn-of-the-century aesthetics. De Porceleyne Fles ceramics factory was established in Delft, Netherlands, in 1653. In the 1880s, the output consisted of plaques decorated after paintings by old masters and leading contemporary Dutch painters. Under the ownership of J. Throoft, the tradition of underglaze painting was revived. Throoft's aim was to revive the Dutch ceramics industry by applying industrial processes evolved in England. A. Le Comte (art director from 1877-1919) introduced newly styled decorative wares including Berbas luster ware and Jacoba ware.

H. W. Mauser, technical director in the mid-1890s, evolved a range of decorative tiles, matt glazed or painted in enamels, and shaped to follow the lines of the design. Designers of tiles included Jan Toroop. Further experimentation in the early 20th century resulted in a range of high-quality flambé ware and gold and silver lusters. The business passed to a company of shareholders in 1903 and is still in business.