Original 17th century wall with Delft tiles discovered

Last Saturday we received a call from a construction worker that they had found an old tiled wall that was hidden behind a 19th century fire place. While the fire place was demolished and the wall behind it was broken down, another wall appeared. Although it was only a small part of an original wall, the part that was left was still completely covered with approximately 100 original 17th century antique Delft tiles!

This was of course a very rare find, but what was even more surprising was the fact that the wall was also original 17th century. This is the first time in many years that an original 17th century tile installation was found. As 99,9 % of all 17th century tiles were already removed from their original walls in the 18th, 19th and 20th century, we were very lucky to see this with our own eyes. It is a wonderful experience to reveal something that has been hidden for hundreds of years.

The tiles were dirty, but in a very good condition. The wall unfortunately was not and was going to be demolished. Therefore we got the opportunity to remove the tiles from the wall. We managed to do so in only 1 hour and 15 minutes while no tiles were lost.