The history of pottery in Harlingen
The First Gleybackery
It is the year 1598, the year in which Frisian pottery and tile manufacturing became a fact with the establishment of the first Gleybackery of Steffen Gunter de Olde in the Raamstraat of Harlingen. From this time on, Harlingen was one of the major tile and pottery manufacturers of the Netherlands. The discovery of the kiln foundations of the first factory, during excavations in 1987, provided tangible evidence of the early production of various dishes with the year 1614 engraved on them. An exciting aspect of the find was that it concerned the most ancient Frisian majolica known today.
World Wide Fame
Due to its favourable location on the sea, Harlingen developed into an important harbour town. Consequently, Harlingen pottery became an outstanding export commodity. As an additional advantage, the raw material for pottery, a fine marine clay, was widely available. This allowed Harlingen pottery and tile to achieve world wide fame. Many of the now antique tiles still present in old houses, farms and museums in the Netherlands or abroad, originated from Harlingen.
- Major manufacturers in Harlingen through the centuries were:
- Pytter Grauda c. 1670
- The Spannenburg family 1728 - 1804
- The Feytema family c. 1685 - 1781
- The Tjallingii family 1781 - 1910
- The Van Hulst family 1850 - 1933
Leading painters throughout the centuries were: Dirk Danser 1708 - 1770, Pytter Ruurds 1754 - 1800 and especially Pals Karsten c. 1723 until the years beyond 1775. Pals Karsten worked in the factory of the Spannenburg family. He became well-known for his own decorative style in which much attention was given to the details of flowers and naval scenes. The style of his hand still remains a never ending source of inspiration for the training of the painters in the Harlinger Pottery and Tile manufactory. The end of the many centuries old Harlingen tradition was signalled when the Van Hulst family closed their factory in 1933 (involving the loss of all company records).