Garniture of five vases

These five vases are examples of eighteenth-century Delftware, tin-glazed earthenware created in Holland. The Dutch called a garniture of large vases a kaststel. Designed for display atop a kast, a type of high cupboard, or on a chimney-piece, these impressive vases were inspired by Chinese Ming alter vases. The enterprising Dutch potteries, capitalizing on the dearth of blue-and-white porcelain from war-riddled China during the transition from the Ming dynasty (mid-fourteenth to mid-seventeenth centuries) to the Qing dynasty (mid-seventeenth century to early twentieth century), created a market for Delftware garnitures in sets of three, five or seven matching vases.