The Gouda Pottery Story

An excellent example of semi-matte pottery from Flora, Gouda. PURCHASE

Some of the world's most exciting art comes from the Dutch. Impressionist painters like Rembrandt and Vermeer are common names in the art world. In fact, a self-portrait Rembrandt painting, entitled The Standard Bearer from 1636, was sold for 175 million euros in 2021 to The Rijksmuseum, the national museum of the Netherlands. Vermeer is no slouch either; his famous work The Girl with the Pearl Earring (1665) was sold for the equivalent of around 30 euros in 1881 and is now considered priceless. The painting is believed to be insured for over 160 million euros. It's no surprise, then, that this area of artistic talent would spill over into other decorative items like pottery.

Gouda is an area in the south of Holland known for, yes, you guessed it, gouda cheese. They also have an ancient smoking pipe industry and gouda pottery, which became known worldwide in the early 20th century. Many of these early works have the Art Deco and Art Nouveau styles of decoration and form.

Like the iconic blue Delftware (originating in the city of Delft in 1653), the export of ceramics and good-quality porcelain became one of The Netherlands' largest industries. An endless variety of pottery comes from all the Gouda companies, but by the time the Second World War ended, so did the fantastic art from Gouda and factories either closed or moved to other areas. The last standing company, Royal Goedewaagen, closed its offices in Gouda in 1974, after already having moved the factory to Nieuw-Buinen where it continues to operate today.

These are some of the factories that operated at the peak of the Gouda pottery era.

Ivora

1630-1964

One of the oldest ceramics manufactured in Europe, it dates back to the 1630s. Their Gouda-style pottery was produced from 1914 until it closed in 1965. If you can find it, it has some very rare designs, with the iconic Ivora Gouda Holland hand-painted mark on the base.

Zenith

1749-1982

Like many of the Gouda pottery companies, they started as pipe makers. Made out of clay, it would seem natural for a company to move to other areas of pottery and still make pipes. At some time in the early 20th century, Zenith joined the other pottery companies to produce artistic home wares and décor items. Some rare pieces will have the ‘Zenith Made in Holland’ mark on the base. They finally closed in 1984.

POINT OF INTEREST: When the Gouda pipe manufacturing had its first pipe market in 1666, the pipe fabrication market really took off in Holland, surpassing that of the English pipe makers. In 1749, there were a massive 349 pipe-making factories in Gouda, which supported half the inhabitants of the area. As with many things – the typewriter industry comes to mind – the pipe industry had a lifespan.

Royal Goedewaagen

1610-1974-Present

The history of the Royal Goedewaagen company is rich, dating back to 1610 when it was called ‘De Star’ until the present day, spanning four centuries. The Goedewaagen family, who were pipe makers, came into the possession of De Star in 1853, and later, towards the 1880s, the company was renamed Goedewaagen. In the early 1920s, the company, which included decorated ceramics as well as pipes, was granted a royal charter and added the ‘Royal’ to its name. From 1963 to 1974, the factory was moved in pieces to Nieuw-Buinen.

The mark for early 20th-century Goedewaagen decorated ceramics is often the hand-painted ‘Royal Goedewaagen, Gouda, Made in Holland’, which is also often stamped into the clay with ‘Goedewaagen, Gouda’.

A lovely example of hand-painted Gouda pottery from Royal Goedewaagen, showcasing the stylized florals of the time.

Flora

1946-1980

Flora, with the mark ‘Flora Gouda Holland’, operated in Gouda between 1946 and 1980. In 1980, the company relocated to Hardenberg, and in 1989, it was taken over by Goedewaagen. There are some iconic designs that the artists that Flora created, and they are no longer being made, so they are very collectable. Some of the later designs, when the company had moved to Hartenberg, were created by well-known, talented young designers of the time, which made them sought-after well into the eighties.

Regina

1898-1979

Established in Dutch Queen Wilhelmina’s coronation year, Regina was named after her, the name Latin for ‘Queen’. Like many of the Gouda factories, they started making pipes and added decorative pottery to their list in 1917. This was mainly because they were able to buy many of the moulds from the bankrupt Rozenburg company.

Well-known artist Floris Meydam (1919-2011), known for his incredible glassware designs, also designed ceramics for Regina and Flora in the 1950s.

In 1979, the name was sold to the art company Artihove, and they continued with the Regina-palette until 1993.

Plateelfabriek Zuid-Holland (PZH)

1898-1964

PZH was opened in 1898 and became one of the most successful art pottery companies in the country. The ceramics were exhibited at the 1915 World’s Fair in San Francisco, and they were on the map. Focusing on the art nouveau style of ceramics, the company received the Royal charter in 1930. The company had some ups and downs, including labour unrest in 1927, and was nearly forced to close, but it managed to hold on until the company went bankrupt in 1964.

Marks for PZH can include Plazuid, Plazuid-Holland or Zuid-Holland or Royal Zuid-Holland.

Some things to look out for in Gouda pottery

• Patterns are often stylized florals or, if early on, typical art deco symbolism.

• The high-glaze items are more valuable than the matte. These are more elaborate but also made earlier.

• The high-glazed items with white or blue backgrounds are more valuable than the darker coloured backgrounds.

• The bigger the better in this case.

• The older, the more valuable.

• Marked items are more valuable than unmarked ones. However, some unmarked items are prototypes or studio pieces that still have value.

The typical mark on the base of most Gouda items.

Before 1898, only smoking pipes, building tiles and home wares were made. Then Plateelfabriek Zuid-Holland came onto the scene and included decorative pottery. They were the only ones until other companies joined in around the early 1910s. Up until 1935, buyers forced design changes, and some companies embraced the changes while others did not and faced economic difficulties. The most prosperous time for ceramic companies in Gouda was the years between 1935 and 1939. After Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940, very little ornamental pottery was made. After the war, most Gouda pottery companies had a boom in sales, those moving with the times more than others, but by 1964, most factories had moved, merged or closed for good.

There is not much left of the pottery scene in Gouda, but many buildings remain, and many are being revamped and repurposed for the modern age while keeping the essence that made Gouda such a powerhouse in its day.