Ram, Plateelbakkerij - Henri van Lerven - Platter - Earthenware, Glaze

Material: glazed earthenware
Country of origin: Netherlands
Period: 20th century (1921 – 1969)
Condition: In excellent condition, with no chips or restorations.

Dimensions:
Height: 9 cm – Diameter: 48.5 cm

Weight (excluding packaging): 1.34 kg

Description:

An exceptionally large and impressive round Delft blue dish with a fluted edge. With its large diameter of no less than 48.5 cm, this piece is the absolute focal point in any interior.
This piece of decorative art is entirely hand-painted and produced by the esteemed N.V. Plateelbakkerij RAM from Arnhem. This exceptional example bears the monogram of co-founder and plate painter Henri van Lerven (The Hague, February 28, 1875 – Arnhem, September 17, 1954).

The central scene shows a beautifully detailed Old Dutch river landscape with characteristic windmills, a farm, and a sailing ship. The standing, fluted rim is richly adorned with finely worked, classical floral and foliate motifs.

Manufacturer:

N.V. Plateelbakkerij RAM Arnhem
Plate painter: Henri van Lerven

Back features:
Model number & signature
Fully marked with the well-known ram’s head, “Ram”, “Delfts Blauw”, “Made in Holland”, model number “218. A.” and the signature of co-founder and plate painter Henri van Lerven (“h.”).
- The Ram’s head and Ram: This is the distinctive logo and the name of Plateelbakkerij RAM from Arnhem.
- Delfts Blauw: This indicates the decorative style. The dish is hand-painted with an underglaze technique.
- Made in Holland: The international origin indicator.
- 218.: This is the model number of the dish. This number helped the factory determine which mould or form to use.
The letter “A.”: Within RAM’s coding system, the capital letter A stands for production year 1922.
- Small letter h. (handwritten – left): This is the personal monogram of Henri van Lerven. On decorative ceramics that he personally painted, the initial is always hand-painted under the glaze. This was usually done with thin, dark blue or black paint. It is written as a simple or lightly decorative small letter h, often followed directly by a period (h.)
Henri van Lerven was known not only as director but also for painting himself and for his great love of (Gelderland) landscapes.

Size:
48.5 cm diameter
This is a so-called “prince dish” or “wall dish.” The larger the object, the rarer it is, because such large pieces were very difficult to fire without flaws in the ovens at the time.

Condition:
In perfect condition, with no scratches or missing pieces. The colors are bright and the glaze shines beautifully.
A unique and rare large collectible for the enthusiast of historic Dutch Delft pottery.

History:

Plateelbakkerij RAM was founded with the support of a number of directors from Dutch museums and leading artists such as J. Th. Toorop, W. A. van Konijnenburg, Prof. Richard Roland Holst, Carel Adolph Lion Cachet, F. J. van Mansveld and H. van Lerven. Leendert Anthonie Iseger worked at plateel factories such as Rozenburg, Brantjes, Haga and Plazuid. He knew Colenbrander from his time at Rozenburg and Plazuid. He was a great admirer of Colenbrander and, with others, sought to establish a new factory, exclusively for producing Colenbrander designs. He recruited art dealer and plate painter Henri van Lerven, banker Charles Engelberts and the wealthy brother and sister de Visser to fund the venture. The mission of the company was stated as: “to develop a new Dutch art pottery industry, founded on the principles and inventions of T.A.C. (Theodoor) Colenbrander (October 31, 1841 – May 28, 1930).” The factory and studio were housed in a small factory at Schaapsdrift 62 in Arnhem.

The name Ram came from the zodiac sign Aries and was conceived by Theodoor Colenbrander. He had in mind the brilliance of the constellation (by the way, none of the three founders was born under the sign Aries).

The artist himself, already well over eighty at the time, produced about sixty different shapes, with more than seven hundred décors. His inspiration came mainly from flora: plant and flower motifs were reduced to colorful, almost grotesque, organically abstract forms on a cream background.

Production process and variety

The production of Colenbrander pottery targeted the affluent connoisseur. Due to the precious hand-made production, the price was very high.

Colenbrander drew the patterns on a biscuit model himself and then colored the shapes with watercolors. Wim van Ham handled transferring the patterns by means of stamps on the models, which were filled with paint by the decorators in the factory. The products were then fired a second time.

Colenbrander pottery was glazed with enamel paint to allow full-coverage work. One initial reason for the rift between Colenbrander and van Lerven was the use of oxide paint, because it was cheaper to process. Between 1923 and 1924 this cheaper paint was used, initially without the artist’s knowledge. After a strong protest on his part, they returned to using enamel paint.