The Curated Object

Exhibitions Hague. Glittering Glass 1500 Years of European Glass. Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. The Curated Object

 

Detail of cup with view of peatland ponds, The Netherlands or England, diamond-point stipple engraving: attributed to David Wolff (1732-1798), The Hague 1780-1798, clear colourless lead glass, h. 27.4 cm, diam. 14 cm

Three glasses with stipple engraving by Frans Greenwood, The Netherlands or England, diamond-point stipple engraving: Frans Greenwood (1680-1763), Dordrecht 1746, clear colourless lead glass, h. 20.5 cm, h. 21.3 cm, h. 28.6 cm 

 

Römer showing the arms of The Hague (a stork) and a view of the town, The Netherlands or Germany, diamond-point line engraving: Master CM (active ca. 1645-1665), The Hague? 1660, clear pale green glass, h. 25.2 cm, diam. 12 cm

 

Three goblets engraved by (Simon) Jacob Sang, The Netherlands or England, wheel engraving: (Simon) Jacob Sang (ca. 1720-1786), Amsterdam 1753, 1757, 1758, clear colourless lead glass, h. 23.2 cm, h. 22.8 cm and h. 18.9 cm 

 

Detail of a cup with view of country house Meer en Berg, The Netherlands or England, wheel engraving and cutting: attributed to (Simon) Jacob Sang (ca. 1720-1786), Amsterdam 1765-1770, clear colourless lead glass, cut, h. 35.1 cm, diam. 13.5 cm

Glittering Glass: 1500 Years of European Glass 

through Nov. 11, 2009

A seventeenth-century römer bearing the Hague stork, a cup adorned with a detailed scene of hunting and fishing, and a goblet skilfully decorated with a picture of merry music-making – these are just some of the pieces of glass on display in the exhibition Glittering Glass II. This second instalment in a series about the unique glass collection of the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag focuses mainly on the products of different techniques of applied decoration, such as enamelling, cutting, diamond-point engraving, wheel engraving and – last but by no means least – stipple engraving (a technique in which extraordinary heights of virtuosity were achieved in the Netherlands).

The technique of diamond-point engraving was revived in early sixteenth-century Venice. Whereas the Venetian glassmakers confined themselves chiefly to floral and foliate designs, later engravers in the Netherlands developed a style featuring a naturalistic depiction of plants, animals and people, with shading to produce a three-dimensional effect, the use of perspective in the depiction of landscape and the accurate depiction of textiles. The art of calligraphy on glass was also practised to a very high level in the Netherlands. One outstanding calligrapher was Willem Jacobsz. van Heemskerk (1613-1692), who worked in Leiden. The exhibition will include a number of objects inscribed by him, including a berkemeyer which once belonged to Hugo Grotius.

Another technique is stipple engraving. Unique to the Netherlands, stipple engraving is regarded as the country’s main contribution to the art of glass decoration. In the eighteenth century, the technique was developed to an amazingly high level, with stippled designs on glass virtually equalling painting in terms of their liveliness and apparent three-dimensionality. Masterpieces from that period include objects decorated by Frans Greenwood and David Wolff.

A concurrent exhibition entitled Glas(s), Gerrit Rietveld Academie Amsterdam 1969-2009 shows that developments in glass design have continued to the present day, with the tradition of glass-blowing still surviving and the Netherlands still playing a leading role in the field.  

The Gemeentemuseum Den Haag has always collected glass and its targeted acquisitions policies have made its unique collection one of the most important in any museum in the Netherlands. The Glittering Glass exhibition is accompanied by a detailed, lavishly illustrated Dutch-language catalogue entitled Glinsterend Glas, 1500 Europese glaskunst; authors Jet Pijzel-Dommisse and Titus M. Eliëns (published by Waanders at € 44.95).

For more information please visit: Gemeentemuseum

Exhibitions Hague. Rozenburg Delfware from Hague Circles. Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. The Curated Object: International Decorative Arts Exhibitions

Plateelbakkerij Rozenburg, Den Haag, biscuitmodellen naar ontwerp van T.A.C. Colenbrander en eierschaalporselein naar ontwerp van Jurriaan Kok.

Plateelbakkerij Rozenburg.

Rozenburg Delfware from Hague circles
October 2007 - 20 January 2008

The Rozenburg Royal Delftware Factory (1883-1917) produced internationally renowned pottery. The glory days of the Hague factory are very much associated with the designer Theodoor Colenbrander and its director Jurriaan Kok. But the Gemeentemuseum’s exhibition ‘Rozenburg: Delftware from Hague circles’ does more than explore their creative years. The exhibition and the accompanying publication seek to paint a complete picture of the factory that was so very much part of Hague artistic circles.

Rozenburg was set up as a pottery factory in 1883 by the German Wilhelm Wolff Freiherr von Gudenberg. The entrepreneur’s original aim was to produce traditional Delft pottery, but he was soon captivated by contemporary artistic designs. He found an ally in the shape of the eccentric T.A.C. Colenbrander (1841-1930), who designed exotic vases and dishes with whimsical, bright designs. It was in the years that Rozenburg’s shareholders included the likes of the marine painter H.W. Mesdag and the poet and literary critic Carel Vosmaer, and its tile painters numbered up-and-coming artists like Willem de Zwart and W.B. van Horssen. Those early days were a flamboyant time, but the factory struggled to make a profit.

In the 1890s, Rozenburg tacked between art and commerce, between ceramics for the construction industry and pottery utensils. The factory produced tile tableaux for the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and was very much inspired by the British arts and crafts style. Vases, mantel clocks, dishes and jugs were decorated with rural idylls populated by waterfowl and frogs, sunflowers and poppies. The scenes were devised by master painters and their apprentices. Inspiration and expertise were derived from field trips, the Hague art academy or volumes of illustrations from all over the world.

And then, after years of experimentation, director Jurriaan Kok (1861-1919) suddenly launched an eggshell porcelain that was so delicate and so thin that it was almost unusable. Teapot lids resembled flakes of foam and handles rose up out of translucent pots like wayward tendrils. Cheerful, robust decorations made way for ethereal, stylised scenes with aviary birds and thistle branches. At the World Exhibition in Paris (1900) the new designs were an instant hit and the factory enjoyed some very profitable years. But massive investment, increasing plagiarism and a lack of innovative designers began to take its toll. From 1904 Rozenburg shifted its focus to the production of building materials. The factory launched glazed stoneware, a weatherproof material whose smooth properties for many years inspired the artist Jan Toorop, a good friend of Jurriaan Kok. The Gemeentemuseum Den Haag had close ties with Rozenburg right from the early days. The works first bought by the museum were acquired by its then director Hendrik van Gelder in 1913 and 1917. That last year marked the end of the factory. It fell victim to declining sales and a sharp increase in the price of raw materials as the First World War loomed.

For more information please visit: Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

-Joanne Molina