Boch Keramis / Boch Freres / Royal Boch (1841 – 1998)
Victor and Eugene Boch founded Boch Freres Keramis in La Louviere, Belgium in 1841. From the end of the 19th century until 1920, Boch Keramis produced beautiful hand-painted tin-glazed blue & white and polychrome Delftware. The hand-painted mark from this period features a backwards k overlapping a large B.
Boch Keramis stopped production of Delftware in 1920, although a few transfer printed designs continued to be made using a printed Boch mark that features the words Made in Belgium Boch Fes La Louviere Fabrication Belge inside a circle superimposed over stylized leaves. Boch assumed production of Delftware again in 1969 when the company purchased the defunct Royal Sphinx. From 1969 until 1979, Boch produced blue & white Delftware for Royal Sphinx and used a printed mark that featured a circle with the words Made for Royal Sphinx by Boch inside the circle and with the Sphinx Delfts underneath. A mass of leaves and flowers surround the circle and Delfts. In 1973, the Boch name changed to Boch Limited and the company struggled financially through the 1980s. In 1985, the name changed again to the Manufacture Royale Boch, which featured a new printed mark similar to that used for Royal Sphinx, but instead showed MLR in the middle of the circle. The company changed hands again in 1989 and was renamed Royal Boch, however the production of Delftware ended in 1998.
Reference: Van Hook, Stephen J., Discovering Dutch Delftware: Modern Delft and Makkum Pottery (Alexandria, VA: Glen Park Press, 1998).
DELFTWARE
The European craze for blue and white Chinese export porcelain in the 17th century lead to the development of the Dutch East India Company, which imported millions of pieces of Chinese porcelain as well as other Chinese wares. In 1620, the death of Wan-Li (Ming Dynasty) interrupted the flow of goods to Europe. Dutch potters from the city of Delft quickly filled the gap in the market with their own production of blue and white ceramics that duplicated the look of Chinese export porcelain by using the tin-glazing technique learned from the Italians. The Delft potters were the first northerners to imitate the tin-glazed earthenware pottery of Italian majolica, or faience. Production of Delftware proliferated and by 1700 there were more than 30 factories in production of high-quality pieces in the city of Delft.
Delftware drew on Chinese designs for inspiration, but also developed European patterns. Decorative plates were made in abundance and featured native Dutch scenes with windmills and fishing boats, hunting scenes, landscapes, seascapes, and scenes of people in daily life. When Chinese exports re-entered the European market by 1685, they came back in color, especially in greens and pinks. This sparked the production of Polychrome Delft, which refers to the use of colors other than blue and white. Besides the popular cobalt blue on a white background, Delft potters had a full color range that consisted of yellow, orange, brown, green, purple, dark red, and black.
Despite the huge success of Delftware manufacturers, the market for Delftware eroded through the 18th century until eventually only one factory in Delft remained in existence. Joost Thooft bought the last remaining Delftware factory, De Porceleyne Fles, in 1876. Since that time, over one hundred potteries have come back into existence producing what is known as modern Delftware, which no longer uses the tin glazing method of majolica.
In the period from 1876 to 1940, many high-quality, beautiful pieces of Delftware were produced. The transfer printing process was also brought back at this time. After World War II, tourism began to play a larger role in the Dutch economy. More Delftware companies opened in the 1950s to 1970s, specializing in pieces made for the tourist trade. Delftware has been produced in Holland, Belgium, Germany, England, Japan, and the US, and is still in production today.