delft blue

i’m often drawn to colors in a magnetic way- a deep cherry red, a great mustardy yellow and most recently, warm, rich grays. but over the past month or so i’ve noticed that delft blue, a beautiful color that has its origins in 17th century holland, popping up all over the place. delft blue (sometimes called danish or dutch blue) was created by calcinating cobalt ore with quartz sand and potash- an extremely expensive process for artisans of the time. using paint grinding windmills, dutch artists would create the paint to decorate various porcelain vessels used for tableware. the city of delft had a high concentration of factories specializing in this process; during the 17th century they produced tiles and tableware with this unique blue color that was most often used to depict religious and floral motifs (often in a style similar to toile). [photo above, clockwise from top left: roses are blue dinnerware by rosanna inc. $30-$40, tablestories plate by tord boontje $312 for two 5-piece settings, cup by hella jongerius $360 at moss, delft candleholder by hella jongerius $580]