Overview

*A NPR Here and Now Editor's Pick!* An absorbing work of cultural history that reveals the stories behind one of the world's most coveted and beloved ceramic. When over seventy-five pieces of rare and intriguing 17th and 18th century Delftware are rediscovered in an historic Manhattan townhouse, decorative art advisor and writer Genevieve Wheeler Brown quickly recognizes that, together, these pieces tell an amazing story. What begins as a curatorial exercise quickly evolves not only into an exploration of this colorful, expressive, and sometimes even humorous decorative art, coveted for hundreds of years, but also an unexpected uncovering of forceful female lives yet untold. Connecting the accounts of women across centuries, Beyond Blue and White allows us to craft a more complete picture of female experience through the lens of material culture. We meet female Delftware makers, including Barbara Rotteveel founder of “The Three Bells” Delftware factory in 1671. We are introduced to female Delftware patrons such as Queen Mary II, who found her means of expression while creating a vogue in the 17th century for Delft blue and white across royal courts. And then there are the female collectors beginning in the 19th century who saw the artistry and craft in these ceramics others had overlooked. Foremost among them was Mrs. J. Pierpont Morgan and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt II who came together with fellow New York women and laid the groundwork for women in the museum world while preserving decorative arts with an educational mission. With illustrations of period objects, documents, maps, paintings, prints and drawings, Beyond Blue and White is a colorful celebration of an iconic decorative art and dynamic women living in extraordinary times. Wheeler Brown's rich narrative encourages us to see beyond the dazzling cobalt glaze of Delftware to consider that these vessels are also our connection to a history with a fascinating group of women at its center.

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9781639368914

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Reviews

“A quest to uncover a New York fine arts mystery, told as if in the delicate northern light of a Vermeer painting. I loved it: I won’t look at Dutch porcelain in the same way again, and I might not look at the Netherlands in the same way again either.”   -- <B>Victoria Finlay, author of <I>Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World</I></B>

""A decorative-arts adviser and specialist, Ms. Wheeler Brown found herself spellbound when asked to appraise a vast collection of Delftware unceremoniously stored in the Manhattan headquarters of a Gilded Age-era women’s group. As important to the longevity of Delftware as its quality has been the appetite for collecting and commissioning it. Ms. Wheeler Brown delves into the roles women have had shaping, patronizing and protecting the pottery over the centuries. Beyond Blue and White taps into what every collector of antiques knows to be true: The decorative arts are more than mere objects where beauty meets function—they are the tactile messengers of histories forgotten."" -- <I><B>The Wall Street Journal</B></I> ""When Brown is asked to review a large, private collection of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Delftware, she finds herself on a search for the stories of its creators and collectors. These are stories that go beyond descriptions of the pieces and their provenance. Instead, they are about the women who ran potteries and the women who acquired and assembled collections of the Delftware they made. Brown’s bibliography is extensive: She consulted archival collections, numerous histories, and scholarly articles. Museum- and academic-library collections will want to add this title, as will public libraries whose patrons include Delftware devotees."" -- <I><B>Booklist</B></I> ""A journey through history as delightful and intricate as the artform it follows. The author's hand tracing a path for us to follow, over the surface of a gleaming puzzle-jug and through the lives of the women who intersected with it."" -- <B>Naomi Novak, <I>New York Times </I>bestselling author of <I>Uprooted </I>and <I>A Deadly Education</I></B> “A captivating history of Delftware and the extraordinary women who ran the potteries and collected the beautiful Dutch ceramics, as well as the innovative and inspiring women who created the arts institutions that would display Delftware to a broad audience. Framed in an engaging and quick paced personal narrative, Brown weaves a brilliant historical story. I highly recommend this book!"" -- <B>Leslie Banker, author of <I>Think Like a Decorator</I></B> “Brown shows us that the story of blue and white is not black and white at all. This is a richly hued narrative filled with depth and surprises. Some of the best characters are the objects themselves, improbable Delftware survivors—desired, dusted, coveted, ignored—now pointing us to a series of remarkable women fiercely devoted to the medium over centuries.” -- <B>Christine Coulson, author of <I>Metropolitan Stories</I> and <I>One Woman Show</I></B> “A quest to uncover a New York fine arts mystery, told as if in the delicate northern light of a Vermeer painting. I loved it: I won’t look at Dutch porcelain in the same way again, and I might not look at the Netherlands in the same way again either.”   -- <B>Victoria Finlay, author of <I>Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World</I></B>

Author Information

As a decorative art advisor and writer with over thirty years in the art world, including a decade with Christie’s in New York and London, Genevieve Wheeler Brown has been actively involved in the community of Delftware. She has also participated on the Antiques Roadshow as an appraiser with an eye out for overlooked “treasure.” In her role, she has held innumerable objects, from fake Stradivari violins to gold-mounted Faberge eggs, considering their value but also the stories they can tell.

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