Sophie von der Goltz
Head of Sale
Lot 16*
A Dutch Delft brushback, circa 1720-40
3 July 2025, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£1,200 - £1,800
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Raphael Machiels
Associate Specialist
Ghislaine Howard
Sale Coordinator
A Dutch Delft brushback, circa 1720-40
Decorated with a chinoiserie pattern of figures and sprays of flowers in blue and white, moulded with fluted sides, 15.5cm diam.
Footnotes
A similarly decorated brushback is in the collection of the Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Lavino Collection, inv. 1059831, and another dated example is published by Jan Daniel van Dam, Dated Dutch Delftware (1991), cat.no. 55, pp. 144f.
Brushbacks are rare survivors of expensive objects for use produced by Delft potters. They were produced in varying quality and decoration, and of very similar sizes. They were based on silver prototypes, and fitted with bunched bristles which were sewn together and held in place by resin.
Robert Aronson points to a print by Jan Luyken of De Schuyermaaker or Brushmaker, from the emblem book Het Menselyk Bedryf published in 1694. This Book of Trades contains 100 prints of a multitude of professions, and was extensively used as a source for decoration for the Delft potters. The print of De Schuyermaaker shows several oval-shaped hand brushes on the counter and underneath it.
