Vase base
Adrianus Kocx (fl.1686 - 1701)
Category
Ceramics
Date
1687 - 1694
Materials
tin-glazed earthenware, in-glaze cobalt blue and manganese black
Measurements
915 mm (Height)
Place of origin
Delft
Order this imageCollection
Dyrham, Gloucestershire
NT 452207.1
Caption
A substantial vase marked ‘AK’ for the maker Adrianus Kocx, owner of the leading late 17th century Delft pottery called De Grieksche A. This factory was the favoured supplier to Queen Mary, providing palaces with many ornaments, often for the display of flowers. At Dyrham Park vases such as these filled fireplaces during the summer, with extravagant displays that contrasted with flower-piece paintings of desirable and sometimes newly imported plants.
Summary
Base section of a flower vase, glazed earthenware, globe-shaped with a flaring foot and fitted around its shoulder with openings in the shape of beasts' heads, marked 'AK' for Adrianus Kocx (De Grieksche A factory), Delft, Dutch Republic, c. 1687–94, decorated in blue and white with Chinese-style bird-and-flower imagery and with borders of scrollwork and lobed and pointed lappets with stylised flowers and foliage reserved in white against blue.
Full description
The taste of Queen Mary II (1662–94), initially as Princess of Orange and from 1689 as Queen of Great Britain, seems to have been instrumental in the development of tall flower vases by Delft glazed earthenware manufacturers in the late seventeenth century. (1) Mary II keenly collected Asian and Asian-inspired ceramics and liked to decorate her residences with cut flowers. (2) Her taste and patronage motivated the Delft glazed earthenware producers, particularly the factory called De Grieksche A (The Greek A), to create tall vases with a number of openings, allowing the flowers to be displayed individually and at the same time in a carefully orchestrated and theatrical manner. (3) These vessels were later called ‘tulip vases’, but they were in fact also used to display other flowers, being referred to in the late seventeenth century as ‘flower pots’ or ‘flower pyramids’. (4) The concept of vases with multiple necks was probably at least in part derived from Iranian multi-necked vases made in fritware (a mixture of clay and ground glass) during the seventeenth century, some of which were decorated in blue and white with Chinese-inspired motifs. Another possible source are the Chinese multi-necked blue and white porcelain vases made for the Middle Eastern market during the same period. (5) Some of the Delft flower vases are in the shapes of pyramids, obelisks or pagodas, often showing the influence of the baroque architect and designer Daniel Marot (1661–1752), who is known to have worked for Mary II and her husband William III. (6) This particular vase is of a different, slightly rarer type consisting of stacked globular shapes, inspired by the globular multi-necked Iranian and Chinese vases mentioned above and perhaps also by Chinese porcelain vases in the shape of double- or triple-lobed gourds. The decoration – both the bird and flower imagery and the lobed and pointed lappets with stylised floral motifs reserved in white against blue – is in the style of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain of the Kangxi period (1662–1722). Comparable Delft vases with globular sections, or fragments of them, are at the palace of Het Loo, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands; in Brussels, Belgium; and at the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin, Germany. Of these the Dyrham vase is the most complete surviving example. (7) The dating of these flower vases made under the supervision of Adrianus Kocx to c. 1687–94 is based on the fact that he took over the De Grieksche A factory in 1686–7 and that most of the vases of this type appear to have been produced before Mary II’s death in 1694. (8) (Emile de Bruijn, January 2024) Notes: (1) Corrigan, van Campen and Diercks (eds.) 2016, cat. 91 (pp. 310–12); and Bruijn 2023, pp. 54–5. (2) Erkelens 1996, p. 51. (3) Id., pp. 40–55. (4) Id., p. 41; Ferguson 2016, p. 51. (5) For a Chinese example, see MacGuire 2023, cat. no. 13 (p. 46). For Iranian examples see those in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, inv. nos. 457-1874, 874-1876, 1032-1876, 1222-1876, 438-1878, 1082-1883 and 192-1884. (6) Compare the Delft flower pyramids at Dyrham, inventory nos. NT 452205 and NT 452206. See also Corrigan, van Campen and Diercks (eds.) 2016, cat. 91 (pp. 310–12); and Ferguson 2016, pp. 50–1. (7) Erkelens 1996, cat. nos. 5 and 6 (pp. 67-71). (8) Ferguson 2016, p. 51. References: Emile de Bruijn, Borrowed Landscapes: China and Japan in the Historic Houses and Gardens of Britain and Ireland, London, Philip Wilson Publishers in collaboration with the National Trust, 2023. Karina H. Corrigan, Jan van Campen and Femke Diercks (eds.), Asia in Amsterdam: The Culture of Luxury in the Golden Age, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, and Salem (Mass.), Peabody Essex Museum, 2016. A.M.L.E. Erkelens, 'Delffs Porcelijn' van koningin Mary II: Ceramiek op Het Loo uit de tijd van Willem III en Mary II (Queen Mary's 'Delft Porcelain': Ceramics at Het Loo from the Time of William and Mary), Zwolle, Waanders Uitgevers, in collaboration with Paleis Het Loo, Apeldoorn, 1996. Patricia F. Ferguson, Ceramics: 400 Years of British Collecting in 100 Masterpieces, London, Philip Wilson Publishers in collaboration with the National Trust, 2016. Becky MacGuire, Four Centuries of Blue and White: The Frelinghuysen Collection of Chinese and Japanese Export Porcelain, London, Ad Ilissum, 2023.
Provenance
Not identifiable in the 1703 and 1710 Dyrham Park inventories; listed in the Saloon in the 1839, 1871 and 1937 inventories. Originally acquired by William Blathwayt (?1649-1717) and thence by descent; purchased by the Ministry of Works, 1956, and transferred to the National Trust, 1961.
Marks and inscriptions
AK (maker's mark on bottom section)
Makers and roles
Adrianus Kocx (fl.1686 - 1701), maker
References
Erkelens, 1996: A.M.L.E. Erkelens, 'Delffs Porcelijn' van koningin Mary II: Ceramiek op Het Loo uit de tijd van Willem III en Mary II, Palais Het Loo, Apeldoorn/Waanders Uitgevers, Zwolle, pp. 68-9