Key Points
Delft tiles date back to the 1600s and are known for blue-and-white scenes of daily life, .Their nostalgic imagery and historic use as a marble alternative keep them enduringly popular.Delft tiles often appear in fireplaces and kitchen backsplashes today.
There’s a name for those antique blue and white tiles with ships, windmills, floral motifs, and animals that are seemingly everywhere in interior design right now: Delft tiles.
Because cozy English countryside-inspired kitchens and the cottagecore aesthetic are popular right now, Delft tiles are experiencing a major comeback.
Below, we’re sharing details on the origin of Delft tiles and how they rose to popularity centuries ago, plus diving into the details of how designers are using them today.
Meet the Expert
Thalia Toha is an architectural historian and geographer at the Lafayette History Museum.
Kelly Emerson is a senior designer with Aidan Design.
What Are Delft Tiles?
Credit:
mjostodd / Getty Images
Delft tiles are small decorative tiles that depict daily Dutch scenes and originated in the town of Delft, Holland; it’s estimated that they were first produced during the 16th century.
However, some claim that the practice of making Delft tiles, known as delftware, dates back to the 1300s, notes Thalia Toha, an architectural historian and geographer at the Lafayette History Museum.
Originally, Delft tiles were blue, orange, yellow, or green. It was only later on, in the 17th century, when blue became the dominant color used, explains Toha, who says that this is thought to have been influenced by the rise of imported Chinese porcelain.
“Market demand began to prove blue-and-white as the favorite theme for the tiles,” she says.
The design certainly feels vintage today, but Delft tiles were always designed with nostalgia in mind, Toha says. The images depict day-to-day scenes and images and have an almost childlike, “worry-free” feel to them, and some are inspired by children’s games.
How to Get the Look
Credit:
Design by Bailey Ward Interiors / Photo by Kelly Blackmon
Historically, Delft tiles were used in a number of places where you won’t necessarily find them today, chimneys and stoves being two examples that Toha cites, but they were also used for fireplace surrounds like they often are today.
“In US colonies around the 1730s, marble-faced fireplaces grew in popularity in upper-income circles,” Toha says. “And yet, for households that couldn’t afford marble-faced fireplaces, Delft tiling was sometimes used as an alternative to marble.”
Today, Delft tile isn’t a backup; it’s a design feature to brag about—and around the fireplace, an instant sense of warmth and coziness to any home.
Credit:
Design by Kate McElhiney Studio / Photo by Veronica Olson
Kelly Emerson, a senior designer with Aidan Design, likes to use Delft tiles for kitchen backsplashes. For one, she explains, glazed ceramic tiles like Delft tiles are ideal for a kitchen, given that they’re quite durable.
She also appreciates the “eloquent decorative nature they bring to English-inspired kitchens.”
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Of course, those who appreciate Delft tiles but aren’t looking to go all in with the design may appreciate displaying one or two on an open shelf or even showcasing one inside of a shadowbox frame.