The Geffrye, Museum of the Home

< Back to collections

Kingsland Road London E2 8EA  Tel: 020 7739 9893

17th Century OrnamentsPage 2

Imported ceramics from Europe and the East were valued as much for their decorative qualities as for actual use. Chinese porcelain was a luxury available only to the wealthy in the seventeenth century, but blue and white delftware, made first in Holland and then in England, was more affordable. Decorative wares from Germany, France and Italy were also fashionable as ornaments.

Enlarge

Plate, made in Montelupo, Italy, 1575-1625; tin glazed earthenware.

© Geffrye Museum