33. De Witte Ster also known as De Starre aka De Witte Starre - The White Star / L'étoile blanche (workshop active from 1660 - 1804), located at Oude Delft, west side, near the Rotterdam Gate. 'Names of houses' file mentions it in 1678 as occupying part of the brewery with the same name, just around the corner of Kethelstraat. in 1725 this place was known as a large hotel and stable; in it lived mr. Walterbos who ran the Rotterdam Ferry.
Delftware Connoisseurship
A serious collector of Delftware will attempt to identify and date the object. On Delft blue plates and other Delftware objects such as jugs, a potters mark may give a first indication. One should always treat potters marks with caution. Marks must be considered as just one indication.
Masters & apprentices
All masters and apprentices working at this workshop had to be inscribed in the Delft St Luke Guild Book. In 1877 this book was published in a 120 page text by Obreen. In 2002 this text has been scanned and is now available and fully searcheable on this internet site. See the yellow field on top; first click the heading Delft Artists & Patrons and then click Obreen. The full text is in Dutch. Spelling varies; in order to find masters or apprentices of a faience workshop (plattielbackers, plateelbacker, platielbacker) search for the letters "plat".
Finally there is a lost sheep among the Delftware workshops: see The Artist (De Kunstenaar).
Translation
from Trade Mark book 1764: "The undersigned, Master faience baker of
the faience workshop called Witte Ster (White Star) has the following
mark
AK
*
Full
presentation at http://www.xs4all.nl/~kalden
Email the author at kalden@xs4all.nl
All questions about identifying, dating, valuing, buying and selling: please go to www.Aronson.nl.
Notes: Thanks to the Delft Archives Staff for their help and enthusiasm. A well researched two volume book on Delftware is Marion S. van Aken-Fehmers et al, Delfts Aardewerk, Geschiedenis van een nationaal product, published jointly by Waanders, Zwolle & Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag, 1999 (part 1) and 2001 (part 2).
Mark shown in Jean Justice, 'Dictionaire des marques et monogrammes de la faience de Delft', Gand/Gent 1901.
How did they make Delft blue faience? text in English
Hoe maakte men Delfts blauw plateel? Tekst in het Nederlands.
Visit The Hague municipal Gemeentemuseum site on Delft Blue.
Launched January 2002. Last update 25 October 2016.