Notes:
From the early seventeenth century, Japanese lacquerware was imported by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) to the Netherlands, where its glossy black lustre and rich decoration proved highly popular amongst the Dutch elite. As with kakiemon and kraak, the great cost involved in obtaining these wares resulted in the development and production of local wares imitating, or inspired by, the original Asian designs. By the mid seventeenth century, a black glaze made using manganese oxide was being applied to tin-glazed earthenware vessels by Delft potters in an imitation of the black lustre of Japanese lacquer and famille-noir wares from China. Great technical skill was required in the production and firing of black delftware, as manganese oxide is fairly unstable and can react badly with other colours; extant pieces are very rare.
See: M. Kopplin (ed.), Schwartz Porcelain, The Lacquer Craze and its Impact on European Porcelain, München/Münster (Museum für Lackkunst) 2003
