Cup

The delicate octagonal form of this saucer and its cup, with its seamless handle, are typical of J. Jurriaan Kok’s innovative designs for the Rozenburg factory in the Netherlands. Kok had become managing director of Rozenburg in 1895, where he led the development and promotion of their experimental, wafer-thin eggshell porcelain products. The chrysanthemum flower design painted on this cup and saucer by J.W. van Rossum reflects the fashion for stylised natural forms associated with Art Nouveau.

Kok’s eggshell porcelain range had caused a sensation at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900 and production at the Rozenburg factory expanded. Rozenburg wares attracted an international market, willing to pay for high quality design and production. [1] By 1914, when Kok had left the company, demand for the eggshell porcelain range had declined and the Rozenburg factory eventually went into liquidation in 1916.

The Andersons purchased this cup and saucer in 1971, one of the last acquisitions for their Art Nouveau collection. They already owned three vases from the Rozenburg eggshell porcelain range, one of which was painted by Van Rossum with a similar chrysanthemum design.

Lisa Newby, April 2020

[1] John A. Popper, ‘The Rozenburg Factory: an exercise in Anglo-Dutch co-operation’, The Journal of the Decorative Arts Society 1890-1940, No. 7 (1983), 34-41 (p.37).