While walking through the Blaauwklippen werf or strolling the grounds surrounding the Manor House and Jonkershuis, one might chance upon something remarkable: small, white fragments hidden among the earth. At first glance, they appear as ordinary tile shards, but once turned over, the delicate beauty of centuries-old Delft patterns is revealed.
These fragments, scattered across the estate, are more than just broken ceramics – they are time-traveling traces of Blaauwklippen’s layered colonial past. In 2025, Blaauwklippen entrusted these pieces to Graham Jacobs, a respected South African heritage specialist, who facilitated their dating and classification in collaboration with Dr. Antonia Malan and Dr. Lita Webley.
Two unique collections were identified from the site. The first, known as "DBK misc", includes fragments found over the years by Blaauwklippen staff and family. The second, "DBK 2025", comprises pieces uncovered during the 2025 restoration works. The abbreviation DBK nods to the farm’s original Dutch name: De Blaauwe Klippen.
While commonly referred to as porcelain, these finds fall under the broader term ceramics – any object formed from fired clay. And within these humble sherds lies a compelling story of global trade, colonial heritage, and everyday life at the Cape.
“The Blaauwklippen shards, from ceramics imported from Europe and the East, represent the Dutch 18th- and British 19th-century colonial periods in the Cape,” noted Dr. Malan and Dr. Webley.
The DBK 2025 collection features exquisite examples of 18th- and early 19th-century ceramics. Among them are hand-painted Chinese export porcelain with blue underglaze decoration, Batavian ware with overglazed enamel (popular in mid-18th century tea services), and salt-glazed British stoneware bottles – also known as "gins"- with loop handles and a glossy glaze over a putty-coloured body. Also recovered were transfer-printed patterns including seaweed or coral motifs from the mid-19th century and the distinctive flow blue” style of the Victorian era, in which cobalt ink bled softly into surrounding areas during firing.
The DBK misc collection spans a broader timeline - from the late 17th century into the 20th. It, too, contains Chinese export porcelain with classic blue underglaze, as well as coarse porcelain frequently found on Cape sites from the 17th to 19th centuries. Notably, several 19th-century transfer print designs were also identified.
Together, these collections tell a story not just of Blaauwklippen’s long-standing presence, but of its position at the heart of historical currents that flowed across continents. Each fragment – once part of a teacup, bottle, or plate – reflects the daily lives, trade patterns, and tastes of those who lived and worked here over the past 343 years.
In restoring Blaauwklippen’s manor and grounds, we are not only preserving the structures, but also piecing together the tangible threads of its story – shard by shard, century by century.