Gouda Pottery
The work process:
On some of the early pictures of the PZH you can see people using pottery
wheels. But these were not used for the majority of pottery. They probably
used the pottery wheels for bigger objects. Most items however were
produced using moulds. On some of the older pieces you can still find the
seam line where the left and right piece was joined. All still quite a
manual process. The clay used was made into a liquid and poured into
moulds, where it was left to dry. They perfected this to the extent that
the seam line is about nu-noticeable for pieces from the 1920's and
beyond.
At first they produced high glazed pottery only. The pieces were hand
painted and then covered with a relatively thick layer of glaze, after
that they were fired at a high temperature.
From about 1915 they started to produce pottery with a thinner layer of
glaze. This is commonly referred to as matte glazed pottery.
The matte glazed pottery was "baked" with a layer of glaze on it, even
before it was painted. After that, it was painted and then "baked" again.
The second time they "fired" it at at a somewhat higher temperature, to
get the paint and glaze to blend together. With this process it was
possible for the painters/decorators to use a more comprehensive set of
colours. Because the pottery was pre baked, it was not as porous as it
used to be, and the painters were able to draw with sharper lines and
somewhat brighter colours. The invention of this process was probably one
of the best things that could have happened to the PZH.
The matte glazed pottery quickly became a best seller. Probably because
the pieces were more colourful compared to the pottery produced before and
somewhat easier to display. The reduced glaze (called matte) resulted in
less reflection and therefore easier on the eye with less "shine" from
other light sources around.
For a period during the depression in the 1930's many of the "Gouda"
producing factories ran out of the necessary materials to create their
pottery. They started using a cold glaze technique. After the piece was
painted, it was sprayed with a glaze, which just dried up. So no further
firing was done. These pieces still look good but tend to be more
porous and feel a little rough.
From the 1940's the painting on the pottery seems to become simpler, the
decors and color schemes used became less complex and therefore quicker to
paint. This was probably the result of cost cutting measures. The PZH
Company like all others was driven by profit.
