Fives-Lille Delft and Faience

A beautiful set of five blue and white Delft vases, this faience collection was hand-painted in Holland, circa 1900. The three bulbous vases are lidded, each with a finial depicting a rampant lion with a ball in its forepaws. Beneath the lion is a mottled background (on the front side only), with a foliate and floral margent. Each vase has the same scene painted on the front of the main body: a couple walking through a field surrounded by flowers. The opposite side has a floral rinceaux above a foliate branch. Painted in a similar fashion, the two concave vases are without lids. The side opposite from the cartouche of the couple has floral margents. All five vases have canted corners on the base. Inspired by Italian majolica, the faience produced in 16th century Holland...

Rare Majolica asparagus blue & white platter Wasmuel, circa 1890.

French Majolica wild rose pitcher fives Lille, circa 1900.

Pair of 19th century French faience vases by Jules Vieillard of Bordeaux. Italian Renaissance style decoration depicting Venus. Mint condition. Mark to underside: JVB. Please refer t...

Blue and white chinoiserie altar vase. Delft, circa 1685 The ovoid altar vase stands on a high-waisted foot. The flaring cylindrical neck ends in an outward sloping mouth rim. The two blue coloured lion-shaped handles have suspending rings in their jaws. The body is painted with a continuous oriental landscape with banana and pine trees, Chinese figures and houses, while the neck is painted with three bands of different ornaments. The mouth rim is decorated with rectangular ornaments, the foot with leaves under a band around the ankle. Altar vases are also called vases à chimères. The oldest faience examples were made in the sixteen-twenties in Nevers, France and are attributed to the Conrade potters family, who originated from Italy. The shape is based on metal vases used during the services in Catholic churches. Therefore it is no wonder that many altar vases are painted with the Christogram IHS. Altar vases were made in Delft from about 1675 onwards and production continued well into the eighteenth century. Marked examples are known from multiple manufacturers, such as The Greek A and The Moor’s Head potteries (Aronson 2011, pp. 14-15). A pair of eighteenth century vases was made between 1700 and 1716 at The Three Porcelain Ash Barrells pottery. They are marked with PK for the owner Pieter Kam or, after 1705, by his widow (Blazy & Boyazoglu 1983, p. 110). The pair is painted with a dense parsley decor. A miniature example was excavated from a cesspit in the grounds of the former Porcelain Bottle pottery in Delft. At the same location a larger fragment was also found, decorated with a triple-tulip design in blue and yellow (Eliëns, Schledorn, Van Aken-Fehmers, pp. 31 , 36, 45). Three altar vases with similar tulip and flower decoration in blue and yellow are in the collection of the Dutch Open Air Museum in Arnhem and can also be attributed to the Porcelain Bottle pottery (Klein, p. 152). Official Catholic services were not allowed in the seventeenth century in the Dutch republic, however Catholic conventicles were tolerated. At first sight it might be surprising that a Catholic object...

A pair Dutch Royal Delft vases. Tall decorative vases on an octagonal foot. The vases are hand crafted and hand painted in enchanting blue colors, blue camaieu. Floral decoration wit...

French Majolica asparagus plate Fives Lille, circa 1890. Decorated with an artichoke and a mask with leaves.

Rare French Majolica Asparagus platter, circa 1880. Large leaves with a dragonfly.

From Italy, this imposing antique hand-painted Majolica vase with handles is nearly 39 inches high. It is mainly a figural vase in style, ha...

French Majolica asparagus platter with a bow circa 1890.

Made in the Netherlands circa 1880, this lovely pair of Dutch Delft mantle vases have a traditional double gourd shape.   The vases were painted in traditional polychrome colors show...

A lovely antique petite French faience hand painted jardiniere / cachepot / planter from Rouen, France, circa 1900. Maker's mark on reverse. It would be gorgeous added to a collectio...