The polychrome figure of a standing cow

In the eighteenth century, Holland was an agricultural region, a history that is often reflected in Delftware animals. Among the most prolifically produced were the farm and domestic animals. For example, the figures of cows which are almost always painted with lavish swags of floral garlands draped around their necks and backs. The Delft potters were inspired by the seventeenth-century tradition of the Butcher’s guild parade, which was a real feast and which lived on in the imagery of these Delftware cows a century later.

This small, yet elaborately made figurine of the standing cow had been beautifully painted. The horns and the leaf motif on its back were painted with gold enamel. The figurine is set on the green grassy canted rectangular base.

This little and undoubtedly charming figurine of a cow dates from ca. 1750 and was made in Delft, the Netherlands.

Height: ca. 11 cm (ca. 4 in.)

The length of the base: ca. 7,5 cm (ca. 3 in.)

Source: https://www.aronson.com/a-delftware-menagerie/ (online 22.05.2020)