GOUDA-DESIGN
Dennis presents the birth of Rozenburg Eggshell.
The Rozenburg factory from The Hague in Holland came with an announcement in February 1899 that besides art pottery they were also going to make porcelain. In June of 1899 the first produce was shown at a meeting of the 'Haagsche kunstkring' (The Hague Art Circle). Here I present some of that Rozenburg Eggshell from my collection.
The oldest item from my collection is the one shown below. This 15cm high vase has a decoration of two birds amongst tulips. It is model 92p and the design of the decoration is by S. Schellink.
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Date 1899. An anchor symbol is the year mark for 1899. Green stork between Rozenburg and den Haag. The 'square window' and 1376 indicates the workorder number. So 1376 means made between 28 October and 3 November 1899. Sharp edged S with line is the design signature for S. Schellink. |
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Jurriaan Kok, director of the Rozenburg factory, was well aware that the world exhibition in Paris was near. He made sure that a large amount of his new invention was to be seen there. Before all the eggshell porcelain - as it was called - went to France, it was shown in The Hague. It was a great succes at the World Exhibition in France and the orders started coming in.
An other item from my collection is this 24cm high vase with
a decoration of mushrooms. It is model 122p and the design of
the decoration is by S. Schellink.
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Date 1900. The bee symbol is the year mark for 1900. Black stork with Rozenburg and den Haag. The 'square window' and 1529 indicates the workorder number. So 1529 means 22 October 1900. Design signature again for S. Schellink. |
On the 31st of October 1900, the Rozenburg factory was given the Royal approval by her majesty Queen Wilhelmina. From that moment on the name became the Royal Rozenburg Factory. This meant that a change was to be made to the marking onderneath their products - a crown was added above the stork.
The next example from my collection is a slender vase, model 135p some 18cm tall. A decoration of two snakes. The design is by Roelof Sterken.
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Date 1900. The bee symbol is the year mark for 1900. Black crown with stork and Rozenburg den Haag. The 'square window' and 1802 indicates the workorder number. So 1802 means 18 December 1900. The .RS. mark is for Roelof Sterken. |
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When collecting Rozenburg eggshell porcelain there are many contributing factors that make up the rarity of the item. One is condition, the second is the shape of the model and third is the decoration on the object. The third factor has a lot of diversety. Not only the type of decoration counts but also the excecution of the decoration is important. You go from birds to exotic animals and insects.
The following example from my collection is a small vase, model
157p and only 10.7cm high. Has a decoration of two beetles and
is designed by J.L. Verhoog.
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Date 1901. The ant is the symbol for 1901. Black crown with stork and Rozenburg den Haag. The 'square window' and 472 indicates the workorder number. So 472 means March 1901. The V. mark is the signature for J. L. Verhoog. |
Most of the decorations on eggshell are brightly coloured, but every now and again there will be a decoration with not such cheerful colours! Just like the next item from my collection.
This is a plate, model 87p with a diameter of 16.5cm. Decoration is of a pied crow in an oak tree. The design of the decoration is by S. Schellink.
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Date 1907. The hourglass is the symbol for 1907. Black crown with stork and Rozenburg den Haag. The 'square window' and 185 indicates the workorder number. So 185 means March 1907. Sharp edged S with line running through. Another mark used by S. Schellink. |
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The final example from my collection is a cup, model 188p which is 4.9cm high. This is used as an example of what a painter can do with his colours. Very helpful and quite unique is that the colour numbers are added to identify which colour was used. One can see BL23, BL93D and so on. With the grey it is all about technique, one colour but several different ways of decoration. The blue bird-like decoration, shown on the first two pictures, has three different colours of blue to show what the result may give.
There are no markings underneath
this cup.
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Henk & Jose Collection