By Alexis Mainland
Last year, Christian Shea envisioned a novel gift for his wife: a Delft tile depicting their beloved Border Collie, Abbey. He commissioned Aviva Halter, an English artist in rural Dorset, via Instagram, and the hand-rolled, hand-painted ceramic arrived in two weeks. "It's an incredible memento," said Shea, a real estate lawyer in Helena, Mont., "a million times more tangible than a photograph." It's a present befitting a queen.
Indeed, in the 17th and 18th centuries, while 200 factories in the Netherlands churned out blue-and-white tiles hand-brushed with standard motifs from windmills to farm animals, royalty expected more. Queen Mary II and Louis XIV, as well as wealthy merchants, ordered up custom tableaus depicting their own castles, ships or favorite mythological creatures.
Today, with custom Delft tiles running between $18 and $100 each, every home can get the castle treatment. Katherine Verdickt -- whose Connecticut custom-tile business counts clients across the U.S. and Europe, including the Netherlands -- is producing backsplash tiles patterned with Lone Star imagery for a Dallas client. Think oil rigs, cowboys and armadillos. Verdickt was also called in to personalize the fireplace surround in a Minneapolis Victorian.
The artist fabricated a set of brown-and-white tiles that include renderings of animals and flowers with meaning to the family. "Katherine's work brought in the element of history we needed and the visible artist's hand that we wanted, while keeping the overall look tonal and modern," said Julia Miller, founder of Yond Interiors, the designers on the project.
Among other sources, Regts, a family-owned Netherlands company that has dealt in antique and reproduction Delft since 1949, now makes personalized custom pieces designed to be mingled with their antique sets. Not Quite Past, a company founded in London last year, offers perhaps the most accessible bespoke Delft. It lets customers use its online AI model to design their own motifs. The handmade, hand-painted tiles cost $18 each.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 10, 2025 14:00 ET (18:00 GMT)
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