A manuscript model book of Dutch ceramic tile designs, a unique and important primary source for the early Utrecht tile art industry. No Utrecht modelbook is known before the printed ones at the end of the 19th century.
Many designs in the book remained in use from the 17th to the late 19th century, so that they can be found in the later printed model books, but the styles changed with time and some subjects went in and out of fashion. The later 19th-century decorative designs are smoother and more mechanical than the more traditional designs in the present model book. Especially the picture tiles, which are most time-dependent and are mostly not recorded in Pluis, The Dutch tile, show their 17th-century inspiration, as well as the fashion of the late 18th century when Dutch tile art industry flourished and also worked for export. The landscapes are almost all set in an abundance of water with sailing ships, swimming ducks and sporting fishermen. The book also includes the traditional fully rigged sailing ships and a selection of traditional pictures of professions, children's games, a sea-creature, animals to hunt, a rider, a soldier, etc,. as well as biblical scenes set in various decorative borders.
Extra added: 17 loose manuscript model designs (ca. 1825-1850) for tiles and a drawing of masons at work on a house, also intended as a tile design.
Some presumably blank leaves have been cut out between leaf 102 and the final blanks, and leaves 103 to 105 are mounted on the stubs. In very good condition. Binding rubbed, cracked along the hinges and restored at the foot of the spine. Important and beautiful primary source for the history of Dutch tile designs. Cf. Van Dam, "Vormen uit vuur", in: Mededel. blad Ned. Ver. van Vrienden van Ceramiek en Glas, (1999), nos. 3-4, pp. 27-31; Pluis, Dutch tile: designs and names, 1570-1930, passim; Pluis, Kinderspelen op tegels, p. 281.