Tin glazed pottery came to the Netherlands via either Spain or Italy.  A pottery set up in Antwerp in 1512 produced wares strongly affected by Italian styles.

Subsequently, potteries were founded in Rotterdam, Haarlem,. The Hague and elsewhere.  By the early 17th Century, wares were also being made at Delft, which soon became a key centre and today lends its name to both Dutch and English tin glazed earthenware.

In 1654 Delft was all but destroyed by a massive gunpowder explosion; after this a number of sites formerly used by breweries became free for development by delftware potteries, which retained the old brewery names- the three bells, The metal pot, the young moors head and so on.

From the early 17th Century, delft pottery emulated Chinese blue and white porcelain--both Wanli wares and more elaborate Kangxi wares,  gradually the Chinese influence was absorbed into a Dutch Chinese hybrid style.

Today many people rightly associate delft with the vast output of tiles, used for wall panels, house and shop signs and composite tile pictures.

In the 18th Century  delft began to be influenced by European porcelain. In particular, meissen shapes and decoration were copied, and petit feu polychrome enamelled techniques where adopted.  The Japanese inspired  Delft dore palette Red, Gold, Blue was used from the 1720s.

The Delft industry was hit hard by the introduction of cream ware in the late 18th Century, when output was greatly reduced.

Delft is commonly forged. Sampson made convincing copies, the many reproductions sold today in the Netherlands tend to be lead glazed, not in tin glaze.