My Trip To The The Famous Delft Pottery Factory, The Netherlands

After some thinking, I decided to share my story about my trip to the famous Delft pottery factory in the Netherlands, which is called De Delftse Pauw. I have been hesitant as it was in 2008 and the photos are not as high quality as nowadays is required, but I think it will do.

When I arrived to the Netherlands, I already new I wanted to visit the factory as it is of historical value and now seeing it went bankrupt in 2020, makes me think I'm very lucky to have been there.

De Delftse Pauw was a pottery factory from the 17th century located in the north of the city Delft (in the Netherlands) on the Delftweg (close to the Schie). It was one of the few pottery factories which carry on the tradition of handpainted Delft pottery. It was taken over by Heinen Delft Blauw on 1 July 2018, but was declared bankrupt in September 2020. source

How I Got There

Travel posts usually have a how to get there part, but because the factory went bankrupt, there's no need to give you directions. I'd rather tell you how I got there as it's a funny story. (Pinning to the map was not easy though, needed some detective work.)

I was based in the Hague and to save on commute, I had a pass to use on public transport for the main zones. So going to Delft meant buying another ticket, from the end of the last zone my pass covered. The tram driver only knew Dutch, so I tried to explain to him I need a ticket from the zone grens. He gave me a ticket but I'm not sure I paid the right price though.

Anyway, when I landed in Delft and got off the tram, there was a heavy rain mixed with heavy wind, which resulted in me being soaking vet, even though I had an umbrella. I was standing in the station, where there was no shelter to hide from the rain. My umbrella was in danger as well as those heavy winds don't care about anything and anyone. At some point I thought the best option was to get on the net tram and go back to the Hague, but then the rain stopped, my umbrella resisted heroically and I went on my way. Now I know why there were so many umbrellas in the garbage bin every day, each broken, without exception.

So after some searching (legwork), I was able to locate the factory. It wasn't easy as it was in an industrial area, but I found it. Back in those days there were guided tours organized, I think every 20 minutes or so, but I had the pleasure to be the only visitor at that time, so I had the tour guy all for myself.

De Delftse Pauw

Back in those days there were guided tours every day, every twenty minutes if I'm not mistaken. I was alone that day, so I had the tour guide all for myself.

He explained the process in details, which was helpful as I knew very little about how these beauties were made.

This was the oven in which the pottery items were burned, before getting painted. I need to mention that this was a small factory, as you can see it on the first photo, so nothing was big here.

The whole workshop was decorated with the beautiful things they were creating. There were handmade, hand painted plates on every wall.

Everything was done manually.

Looked like a small office, but this was the painting section of the factory.

The Showroom

They has a wonderful showroom, full of hand painted products. When I entered, it looked like a exquisite exhibition to me. Going through the products, I had to realize I was right as the prices were quite high but if you think how many hours went into those products, you understand why.

Personally I could have bought the whole store as every product was so beautiful, real work of art I could say, but there was no room in my luggage for fragile and expensive delftware, unfortunately.

The famous Dutch wooden shoes, made of ceramics. These are usually sold in every size as souvenir and foreigners love them.

This is a copy of the The Little Street a painting made by the famous Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer.

I forgot to mention that the traditional color used to decorate these products has always been blue.

Delft Blue is the world-famous pottery that has been produced in the city of Delft since the 17th century. Between 1600 and 1800, it was popular among rich families who would show off their Delft Blue collections to one another. Although the Delftware potters preferred to call their pottery “porcelain”, it was only a cheaper version of the real Chinese porcelain. Delft Blue was not made from the typical porcelain clay, but from clay that was coated with a tin glaze after it was fired. In spite of this, Delft Blue achieved unrivalled popularity, and at its peak, there were 33 factories in Delft. Of all of these factories, the only one remaining today is Royal Delft. source

It was an unique experience, especially that the factory dated back to the 17th century and now I realize how lucky I am to have visited the place.