Vintage Delft Blue Hand-Painted Piggy Bank with Windmill

A plump little porcelain piggy bank, hand-painted in classic Delft cobalt blue on a pale bluish-white glaze. One side shows a Dutch windmill with a cottage beside a rippling canal under soft blue clouds, and the other a stylised flower with sweeping leaves. He has blue ears and trotters, almond eyes, a neat snout and a curly tail painted on his rump, with a wavy line and dots along his back. A coin slot runs along the top, and there's a round opening underneath. The base has a crown and "DBL" stamp in blue, the mark of DBL Delft Blue. It fits in the palm of a hand and is in good condition.

Delft Blue began as Dutch potters' answer to the Chinese porcelain that the Dutch East India Company brought to Europe in the early 17th century. Unable to make true porcelain, the potters of Delft painted tin-glazed earthenware in the same blue-and-white style. It became so popular that Delftware turned into a major export and a lasting symbol of the Netherlands, windmills and all.