Vintage Dutch Blue & White Tobacco Jar by Zenith

2201-211241N (Click to Inquire About This Item)

9.5H x 6.5 in diameter

Location: Dallas

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Vintage Dutch Blue & White Tobacco Jar by Zenith represents a style of pottery that has remained popular for over two centuries!  The brass lid and usually cork gasket kept the tobacco fresh, and ironically, the company ~ located in Gouda in The Netherlands ~ got its start making clay pipes for smoking!  Luxurious cobalt blue coloration depicts a Native American enjoying a smoke break on the docks where the tobacco was shipped out from the Americas to European ports.  Obviously a fanciful rendition of the scene, tobacco leaves are seen growing like trees shading the dock, which is quite botanically impossible, yet still alluring nonetheless.
Zenith was founded in 1749 in Gouda by the van der Want family as a factory producing Dutch clay pipes.  Around 1915, as demand for clay pipes was dwindling, the factory started producing Art Nouveau pottery, and beginning in 1935 the factory expanded its offerings into Delftware with classic blue and white.  The company survived World War II by producing a variety of more utilitarian items, and after the war was able to transition back to higher quality earthenware.  By 1968 Zenith was the largest pottery factory in Gouda, but in 1980 a large fire struck the factory and it never fully recovered, closing in 1984 as the last of the large pottery factories of the region.
Circa mid-1900s
Measures 9.5H x 6.5 in diameter

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