[from a press release]
Date of issue: 21 March 2022
Form: sheet with six stamps in six different designs, with value 1 for post up to and including 20 grams for a destination within the Netherlands
Item number: 420161
Design: Jeremy Jansen, Amsterdam
Lithography: Marc Gijzen, Voorburg

The six different stamps in this sheet feature tulip vases from the collections of a number of Dutch museums. The production of these unique glazed earthenware vases reached its peak at the end of the 17th century. The denomination on these stamps is ‘1’, the denomination for items weighing up to 20g destined for the Netherlands.

The history of Delftware is closely linked to that of Chinese porcelain. Delft was one of the VOC’s trading posts, with warehouses where large stocks of this porcelain were stored. [“VOC” stands for “Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie,” the Dutch East India Company. — VSC] Delft potters developed a type of tin-glazed earthenware that could be compared to Chinese porcelain in terms of shape, shine and decoration. Delftware owes its fame mainly to the flower vases with spouts, known since the 19th century as tulip vases. From 1680 onwards, these vases appeared on the market in all shapes and sizes: from gourd bottles, triumphal arches, bowl shapes and goddesses with spouts on their heads to flower pyramids. The pyramids consist of spherical or square segments that are stacked to incredible heights, with the tallest one being almost 2 metres tall. Flowers such as tulips, carnations, Sweet Williams, hyacinths, daffodils and Persian ranunculus could be inserted into the spouts. Often they were also displayed empty on a table, as a showpiece. Because of their decoration, often with Far-Eastern figures and motifs, the vases evoke associations with the Far East. Their construction can also be reminiscent of Chinese pagodas.

The Delftware tulip vases issue features nine different vases, with some vases appearing several times on a number of stamps. Three stamps feature a single vase, two stamps feature three vases, and one stamp features four vases. The three large vases on the stamps are varnished, giving them a porcelain-like sheen. The edge of the sheet not only features all the vases again, but also the names of the museums that have these tulip vases in their collections. The background colour behind the name of each museum corresponds to the colour beneath their vases. Some of the typography on the stamps is placed in a vertical reading direction. On all stamps, the sorting hook is placed at the bottom right-hand side.

Designer Jeremy Jansen studied the subject by consulting catalogues of Dutch museums that have Delftware tulip vases in their collections. ‘For example the Kunstmuseum in The Hague published a wonderful book about a retrospective exhibition in 2007. This catalogue is also an inventory of where all these vases can be found around the world. For practical reasons, I limited myself to vases in Dutch museums. I kept the idea of an inventory in mind, so the stamp sheet has become a sampler, a visual overview of the vases that can be viewed in the Netherlands.’

The stamp sheet features nine different tulip vases from four different museums, using existing images.

The order on the sheet edge, clockwise from top left:

• Bowl-shaped flower vase, pottery De Grieksche A, tin-glazed earthenware, height 28.8 cm, circa 1690 (Kunstmuseum Den Haag)
• Flower vase with a blue and white decor of Chinese motifs, pottery De Metaale Pot, tin-glazed earthenware, height 61 cm, 1685-1691 (Keramiekmuseum Princessehof Leeuwarden)
• Flower pyramid in the style of a Chinese pagoda, pottery unknown, tin-glazed earthenware, height 108 cm, circa 1700 (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam)
• Octagonal gourd flask with spouts, pottery De Grieksche A, tin-glazed earthenware, height 29.7 cm, circa 1690 (Het Loo palace, Apeldoorn)
• Flower vase with spouts, in the shape of a gourd flask, pottery De Grieksche A, tin-glazed earthenware, height 28.2 cm, circa 1690 (Kunstmuseum Den Haag)
• Flower vase with five spouts, pottery De Metaale Pot, tin-glazed earthenware, height 16 cm, circa 1690-1715 (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam)
• Flower vase, pottery De Metaale Pot, tin-glazed earthenware, height 28.4 cm, circa 1691-1724 (Kunstmuseum Den Haag)
• Flower vase with mirror monogram WR (Willem Rex) and bust of king-stadtholder Willem III, pottery De Metaale Pot, tin-glazed earthenware, height 39.8 cm, circa 1695-1702 (Het Loo palace, Apeldoorn)
• Flower pyramid consisting of 11 segments, attributed to pottery De Metaale Pot, tin-glazed earthenware, height 156 cm, circa 1692-1700 (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam)

The Delftware tulip vases stamps are available while stocks last at the post office counter in Bruna shops and at https://shop.postnl.nl/webshop/collect-club/delftse-tulpenvazen-6-vel-nl1 [in Dutch]. The stamps can also be ordered by phone from the Collect Club customer service on telephone number +31 (0)88 868 99 00. The validity period is indefinite.

Technical Details:
Stamp size: 25 x 36mm
Sheet size: 75 x 144mm
Paper: normal with phosphor print
Glue: synthetic
Printing technique: offset, varnish
Printing colours: cyan, magenta, yellow, black, blue and orange
Edition: 91,000 sheets
Appearance: sheet of six stamps in six different designs
Design: Jeremy Jansen, Amsterdam
Lithography: Marc Gijzen, Voorburg
Printing company: Koninklijke Joh. Enschedé B.V., Haarlem
Item number: 420161