Maastricht Ceramics ‘Collection Polling’

For many years, the employees of the museum only occasionally had the time to photograph and registrar objects of this subcollection. Volunteers of the Maastricht Ceramics Association (VMA) assisted the collection department for a few years.

Maastricht has a rich history when it comes to ceramics, which is also reflected in the Bonnefantencollection. The district in which the museum is located – for more than a century – served as the industrial site of the Société Céramique. It is no surprise that Arie and Aak Polling from Voorschoten in 1993 handed over their enormous collection of pottery to the Bonnefanten for the symbolic amount of one guilder. The couple collected Maastricht ceramics during more than forty years. The collection contains the whole period of the production of the Maastricht fabrics, from ca. 1850 until the 1960s and 1970s. This involves the ceramic industries of Sphinx, MOSA, Société Céramique and Astra. The Maastricht earthenware factories produced a divers variety of tableware including the so-called ‘pastel dinner sets’ like the Aida-tableware. Famous designers were Edmond Bellefroid, Charles Vos, Johan Lint, Henri Breetvelt and Willem Jacob Rozendaal. They worked for the Maastricht factories but created ‘art ceramics’ as well.

For many years, the employees of the museum only occasionally had the time to photograph and registrar objects of this subcollection. Volunteers of the Maastricht Ceramics Association (VMA) assist our registrator Mirjam Meisen and collections assistant Nelleke Bongers in the registration, since a few years. The project was finally set in motion properly. We are very thankful for the support of the volunteers. Not just because of their love for the profession but also because of their great knowledge about earthenware. Every other Wednesday they register the collection in the museum. Visitors can ask them questions about the (registration of the) Maastricht ceramics. In the meantime, more than twelve thousand objects have been registered, divided over more than seven thousand inventory numbers. The end of this inventory is coming into view…

You can search for the Maastricht ceramics on our collection online: https://www.bonnefanten.nl/nl/kunst-kunstenaars/ontdek-de-collectie/kunstnijverheid/maastrichts-aardewerk. You can either scroll through the collection or search via ‘advanced search’ for ‘Artist’ (e.g. Petrus Regout), Object type (e.g. bord), Material (e.g. aardewerk).

For the registration of this subcollection we are greatly indebted to the volunteers of the Maastricht Ceramics Association: Nicole Groothuijsen, Marianne Meulman-van Asperdt, Hans Meulman^† and Pierre Ackermans.