You: 1953. Settling into your first class seat on an intercontinental KLM flight. You've ordered a gin and tonic and watch as the Air Hostess approaches (a social promotion to "Flight Attendant" would be a few decades in the future), balancing your drink on a tray.
You're surprised when she hands you instead a teeny Delft ceramic house. You thank her and tuck the toy into your bag, planning perhaps to regift the toy to your nephew. Seeing your confusion (and irritation about your missing cocktail), our Air Hostess leans over and whispers, "Pop the cork on the chimney".
Dutch gin inside and a souvenir for the nephew. Win-win.
These highly-collectible miniature houses each depicts a real Dutch building. Some of these vintage Houses are still filled with liquid - imbibe at your own risk!
10% discount if purchasing more than one. Use Coupon "Dutch10" at checkout. Approximately 4.5"h. x 2.5"w x 1.5"d
Few tiles are as distinctive, or loaded with as much history, as Delft. In their characteristic blue and white, with elaborately painted portraits and pictures of everyday life, the tiles, whether antique or modern, are instantly recognisable. Unlike many other tile traditions, the appeal lies in their individuality: almost anything can be represented on a Delft tile, from mythological depictions of gods to bawdy scenes of drunkenness. Sandwiched between the port of Rotterdam and the coastal city of The Hague, Delft is a relatively small town now, but in the seventeenth century, at the height of the Dutch Golden Age, it was brimming with importance. Around the city the Netherlands at large was reaching the height of its powers, dominating European trade, setting up an outpost in Japan, founding universities, and fighting to become a Protestant state against the forces of Catholic Spain. Delft had been the base for William of Orange, the hero of Dutch resistance to Spain. Johannes Vermeer was also born in the city in 1632, spending his life painting its residents and their houses.
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