Exhibitions

Industry along the Schie: From yeast to Delft Blue – connected by water

March 13 till August 17, 2025

Royal Delft is on of the oldest still-operating industrial site on the banks of the Schie river. For centuries, this river has been the connecting link between trade, industry, creativity, and innovation. From the beer industry to the rise of the potteries. From the factories of Van Marken to Delft University of Technology. From yeast to Delft Blue.

The exhibition is curated with objects from various loan providers, stories from factory workers, and a complementary program throughout the city. Keep an eye on this website for more information.

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Delftware: an ode to craftsmanship. Creating and innovating.

28 June 2024 – 05 January 2025

How do you keep a centuries-old craft alive? For nearly 400 years, Royal Delft has been manufacturing high-quality and unique Delftware. Even in a time of technological developments, the art of Delftware continues to be created by the hands of its makers. Craftsmanship that shows passion, precision and perseverance.

Discover the craftsmanship of Delftware. Individually turned or molded with care, hand-painted and then baked in a ceramic kiln. This exhibition is an ode to the craft and the makers of the past and present. What exactly is a craft? We guide you along the route of the making process and reveal the craftsmen who contribute to the final masterpiece: the beautiful Delft Blue.

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Picasso. Ceramic Magician

10 October 2023 until 19 May 2024

2023 marked the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Ruiz Picasso, the most important Spanish and universal artist of all time. To commemorate his life and work, special exhibitions and events are organized worldwide.

Royal Delft Museum, the factory museum for Delft pottery, presents the lesser-known part of Picasso’s oeuvre: an exhibition about his life as a ceramist and his ceramic work.

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Flowers in Blue – through the lens of Bas Meeuws

17 April until 10 September 2023

Just as with the Masters of the 17th century flower still life, reality forms the basis for Bas Meeuws, but he then bends it to his will. For the exhibition ‘Flowers in Blue’, Bas Meeuws was commissioned by Royal Delft to create new work and to place the Delft Blue vases from the museum collection in a context where the vases are at their best; filled with beautiful baroque bouquets.

Bas Meeuws draws his inspiration from paintings by painters such as Balthasar van der Ast and the Bosschaert family. This gives a unique end result in which 17th-century paintings are combined with modern techniques.

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Van Ruisdael tot Frytom

November 8th 2022 until the 15th of March 2023

Never before shown together: works by the 17th-century Dutch landscape painters Van Ruisdael and Van Frytom on canvas and earthenware. Van Frytom also painted on canvas, but could Van Ruisdael have also done this on earthenware? And is it 17th century craft or art?

The composition of the exhibits is unique and came to Delft from (inter)national private collectors and museums for an exclusive period from November 8, 2022 to March 15, 2023.

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Schiffmacher Royal Blue Tattoo

28 November 2019 – 31 October 2020

Ink connects. Layered, deep-rooted and respectful, this is an ode to Delft Blue and the art of tattooing. A unique collaboration between two traditional crafts from an old world. Brought here from the east overseas. Rich in culture, tradition and symbolism.

Art forms that are applied manually once; with a needle in the skin or with a brush on the biscuit. ‘Schiffmacher Royal Blue Tattoo’ is a story about faith, hope and love. Composed of exclusively designed hand-painted objects. Designed by Henk Schiffmacher and supplemented with items and stories from his extensive collection.

Glorious Delft Blue

18th of January until the 30th of June 2019

The impressive portraits, fascinating still lifes and stylish showpieces made the 17th century unique. Royal Delft, the only original remaining Delft pottery factory from that time, has been making stylish and iconic Delft Blue for almost 400 years.

With the exhibition ‘Glorious Delft Blue’, Royal Delft presents the Delft Blue glory and grandeur of this period in all its splendor. In five themes – trade & new tastes, interior, tulip mania, portraits and fashion – the relationship is made between showing off in the 17th century and contemporary trends.

Nouveau Blue

28th of March until the 30th of September 2019

The current Delftware started at Royal Delft. Without the entrepreneurship of Geertruida Piccardt, the innovation of Joost Thooft and Abel Labouchère, the color blue of Royal Delft would never have been as iconic as it is today. These stories were told in the exhibition ‘Nouveau Blue: from vision to realization’.

Tess van Zalinge x Royal Delft

19th of May until the 15th of July 2017

In ‘Tess van Zalinge x Royal Delft’ the crafts of Delft Blue manufacturing and modern tailoring come together in a unique way. In 2017, a large part of the collection was exhibited in Royal Delft Museum, in the place where the designer was first inspired to use Delft Blue in her collection. Sjoukje Bierma topped it all off by creating beautiful illustrations using the iconic colors of Royal Delft.