Made in the late 18th century, this pair of blue and white Delft jars has an elegant presence.
The smooth ovoid bodies rise to a strong, stepped neck and a wide, projecting flange that adds architectural detail to the silhouettes.
Each jar is topped with a domed cover finished with a tiered knop finial banded in blue and white.
The decoration is confidently hand-painted in deep cobalt blue, with lovely floral groupings, stylized landscape elements, and a drapery-like blue border at the shoulder that frames the scene and emphasizes the form of the jars.
On the reverse, each jar features a butterfly
The designs on the two jars were made to complement each other.
Each has small individual details that make this a fascinating pair.

Dimensions: 10.75″ tall x 4.75″ diameter at widest point x 3″ diameter at base

Condition: Excellent, with small edge chips invisibly restored

Decoration: Hand-painted blue and white landscape and floral motifs
Material: Tin-glazed earthenware (Delft)
Style: Traditional Delft style
Origin: Netherlands
Date: Circa 1790
Notable Details:
A true pair made to be together with closely matched form and decoration
Hand-painted decoration with expressive cobalt brushwork
Domed covers with simple knop finials

This fine 18th-century Dutch Delft jar was hand painted in blue and white circa 1780.
The octagonal body is decorated with a swirling cobalt blue floral design.
The painter’s confident brushwork alternates deep cobalt blue with soft, translucent shading, creating a lively sense of movement across the surface.
The jar’s shoulder features a band of acanthus leaf decoration.
At the top, a lively foo dog finial adds a delightful detail.
The jar is in excellent condition, with a luminous glaze and richly preserved decoration.

Dimensions: 20.5″ tall x 9″ across the widest point x 5.5″ across the base

Condition: Excellent

Decoration: Hand-painted cobalt floral and foliate design on an octagonal body with matching lid
Material: Tin-glazed earthenware (Delftware)
Style: 18th Century Dutch Delft, inspired by Chinese export porcelain
Origin: Netherlands
Date: Circa 1780

The decoration on this pair of blue and white Dutch Delft jars features intricate floral patterns, scrolling foliage, and a central vase, all hand-painted in two shades of rich cobalt blue.
The painting has great energy as if the flowers were growing wildly as we watched.
Elegant curves frame the design, adding to the visual appeal.
The covers are topped with lion finials that are traditional to Dutch Delft.
Made in the Netherlands circa 1860, jars like this would have been placed on a fireplace mantle or a pair of brackets.

Dimensions: Height 13.5″ x 6″ at the widest point x 5″ deep at the deepest point
Condition: Excellent with very small edge chips invisibly restored.

This pair of Dutch Delft mantle jars was hand-painted in the Netherlands circa 1770.
The decoration captures the quiet poetry of the Dutch countryside.
Each jar is painted in luminous cobalt blue with a pastoral scene of cows resting peacefully within a fenced meadow.
The meadow is framed by gently bending trees and distant mountains beneath a sky dotted with birds in flight.
The composition draws the viewer’s eye to the cows, a symbol of rural life and harmony with nature.
Each jar is topped with a finial in the form of a pug-like dog, inspired by the Chinese ‘foo dog’ motif.
The jars convey a sense of tranquility, showcasing a scene of everyday Dutch life in an elegant shape.
Dimensions: 14.5″ tall x 6.5″ diameter at the widest point x 4″ diameter at the base
Condition: Excellent, with minor edge chips invisibly restored
Price: $1,600
Notable Details
Pair of 18th-century Dutch Delft mantle jars
Hand-painted in blue and white with pastoral cow scenes
Covers topped with classic Delft spotted lion finials
Rococo-inspired design, combining pastoral imagery with sculptural lids

This elegant marked pair of Dutch Delft vases dates from the early 18th century.
It was hand-painted between 1705 and 1716 at De Drie Posteleyne Astonne workshop.
A similar pair can be found in the Philadelphia Museum’s Bradbury Bedell Memorial Collection 1921-3-159, 160.
The vases are beautifully hand-painted and feature cobalt blue decoration in the early to mid-18th-century “Thousand Flowers” style.
Each vase depicts a lovely garden scene with a long-tailed songbird surrounded by flowers, leaves, and scrolling vines.
The decoration around each base consists of ornamental panels alternating with a floral motif.
Fine blue lines encircle and define the five sections of each vase.
The design is lively, and the painting is beautifully done.
The quality of the glaze is exceptional.
The vases have a traditional, softly rounded hexagonal shape with bases that flare out at the bottom.
Their long hexagonal necks end in a flared trumpet-shaped opening.
In Dutch, this type of vase is called “knobbelvaas.”
Dimensions: 12 inches tall x 5.5 inches at the widest point
Condition: Excellent
Marks: PK for Pieter Kam at the De Drie Posteleyne Astonne workshop marks (see the mark in the last image).
1. Form of the Mark
The tall vertical stroke with a small angled “K” is a known PK variant, similar to the “PK 7” and “PK 8” marks on Delftware from about 1700–1710. Its slightly uneven brushwork is consistent with authentic early Delft.
2. Attribution
Both Pieter Gerritsz Kam (active c.1700–1705) and his widow Maria van der Kloot (c.1705–1716) used PK. The mark places it firmly in the Kam workshop.
3. Comparison with the Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum’s Bradbury Bedell Collection includes jars with nearly identical PK marks. Like our pair, they are octagonal vases with blue-and-white decoration, confirming a close link to the Kam workshop’s recognized output.

The first thing you notice is the magnificent spiral snake handles. The large blue and white Dutch Delft covered jar is fully decorated. The elaborate decoration on the front features a lovely waterside scene topped with an armorial shield supported by angels. On the reverse, we see a beautiful romantic scene showing a courting couple with the man playing the guitar and the young lady listening appreciatively (see images). The vase’s base, shoulder, and cover are decorated with wide bands of deep cobalt blue lappets.

Dimensions: 21 inches tall x 16 inches across the handles x 8 inches diameter of the base

Condition: Very good; (there is invisible restoration to small edge chips and some craquelure in the glaze.