A small Dutch Delft blue and white V.O.C. tobacco jar and a brass cover

Christie's charge a premium to the buyer on the fi… Read more

The joys of 'TOEBACK' During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Dutch were passionate smokers. Their love of the leaf became immortalized in the large amount of still lives celebrating the joys of festivals and scenes depicting pipes and tobacco, which, along with beer, constituted the traditional consolations of daily life. A contemporary English verse called 'The Wit's Recreation' of 1650 merrily heralded: Tobacco engages Both sexes, all ages The poor as well as the wealthy From Court to the cottage, From childhood to dotage, Both those that are sick and the healthy The form of Dutch Delft tobacco vessels, which is also close to the design of apothecary jars, appears to be largely Chinese in derivation. In the early 17th century Delft specialized in imitating Oriental wares but by the 18th century the decoration had developed a decidedly European character. Engravings and prints became an important factor in the dissemination of fashionable new decorative motifs providing glimpses of fascinating remote shores and faraway lands, especially Indians smoking the calumet, reminiscent of England's first North American colony, the tobacco-growing Virginia. The size of the jar and its wide mouths made it perfect for the storage of the so called carottes of tobacco. When tobacco was supplied from a plantation, the leaf was dried and twisted into cords called 'carottes'. This was shipped in bales or barrels to the markets of Europe. On arrival the carottes were grinded by the mighty tobacco merchants and kept in Delft jars on their warehouses and shops shelves according to flavour and provenance. Each flavour was usually distinguished by a number or specified by name. The fact that the jars are inscribed with numerals confirms that they were parts of a set. The Delft tobacco jars often depict the names of provenance of the tobacco, such as Rappé de Hollande, Duinkerke, Varinas, Portorico or St. Domingo. The customer ordered his or her favourite tobacco by weight and this was supplied in the form of loose tobacco or ground to be taken as snuff. At home one could grind the carotte with a sniff rasp and keep it in a snuff box.

A small Dutch Delft blue and white V.O.C. tobacco jar and a brass cover

DE VERGULDE BLOMPOT MARK, SECOND HALF 18TH CENTURY

Details

A small Dutch Delft blue and white V.O.C. tobacco jar and a brass cover
DE VERGULDE BLOMPOT MARK, SECOND HALF 18TH CENTURY
Decorated with an Indian smoking a calumet flanked by a baluster vase inscribed F:RAPPÉ, further with tobacco merchandise inscribed V.O.C., the domed cover with urn-shaped finial, abrasion to rims, some glaze chips to body
19.5 cm. high (excl. cover) (2)

Special notice

Christie's charge a premium to the buyer on the final bid price of each lot sold at the following rates: 23.8% of the final bid price of each lot sold up to and including €150,000 and 14.28% of any amount in excess of €150,000. Buyers' premium is calculated on the basis of each lot individually.

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