Dutch brick

Last updated

Close-up of Dutch bricks with inscription Baksteen met ingekrast bouwjaar- 1874, zit in de voorgevel naast het risaliet - Zuidhorn - 20388200 - RCE.jpg
Close-up of Dutch bricks with inscription
Spiral staircase to the carillon of the Dutch Reformed Church of IJsselstein Staircase.SintNicolaaskerk.IJsselstein.jpg
Spiral staircase to the carillon of the Dutch Reformed Church of IJsselstein

Dutch brick (Dutch: IJsselsteen) is a small type of red brick made in the Netherlands, or similar brick, and an architectural style of building with brick developed by the Dutch. The brick, made from clay dug from river banks or dredged from river beds of the river IJssel [1] and fired over a long period of time, was known for its durability and appearance.

Contents

Traditional Dutch brick architecture is characterized by rounded or stepped gables. The brick was imported as ballast into Great Britain and the colonies in the east of America. Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, founded in 1591, was originally built of red Dutch brick. Dutch brickmakers emigrated to New Netherland in America, where they built kilns for firing bricks locally. Bricks were being burned in New Amsterdam (New York) by 1628, but the imported bricks were of better quality. At first the bricks were used only for chimneys, but they were later used to face the lower story of the house, and then the entire house. Most of the surviving "Dutch Colonial" houses in New York do not in fact follow Dutch architectural practices, but there are several examples in Albany County which do.

Bricks were also exported by the Dutch for major buildings in their colonies in the east and around the world. The Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town, South Africa, was built in 1666, and its entrance was made of the small yellow bricks called ijselstene (IJssel stones). Christ Church in Malacca, Malaysia, the oldest Dutch church building outside the Netherlands, was made of Dutch bricks that had been brought as ballast in ships from the Netherlands, coated with Chinese plaster.

Background and manufacture

Manual brick manufacture. Illustration from Louis Figuier, Les merveilles de l'industrie (1879). Montage des briques.jpg
Manual brick manufacture. Illustration from Louis Figuier, Les merveilles de l'industrie (1879).

The word "brick" may be of Dutch origin. [2] [3] A 1901 dictionary of architecture defines "brick" as "a regularly shaped piece of clay hardened in the sun or by the heat of a kiln and intended for building; commonly one of very many pieces of uniform size." The "Dutch Brick" is described as "a hard, light-coloured brick originally made in Holland [sic] and used in England for pavements; hence a similar brick made in England." [4]

Until well into the twentieth century the manufacture of brick in the Netherlands (and elsewhere) used manual labor mostly, and the low-paid workers involved in the industry were as marginal socially as the manufacturing industry geographically—the raw materials were gathered on river banks, and the firing of the bricks took place well away from towns and farms to lessen any nuisance caused by fire and smoke. Workers, as was noted in municipal reports, often already belonged to the lower levels of society and were frequently simply let go at the end of the season, adding to the municipal burdens: "As the number of brick kilns increases, so does poverty," according to the 1873 report of the Ubbergen municipality, near Nijmegen, on the Waal river. [5]

The clay for the bricks was dug from river banks (of the Waal, Rhine, and IJssel rivers) and other open-air locations, and was left outside (in a mound called the kleibult) through the winter so that any organic material could decay; [6] the weather (rain, frost, drought) helped make the clay more manageable. At the end of this period the clay was mixed with sand and other materials, a process done by foot, by workers stomping on the clay. [7] It was then molded into the proper shape by an artisan, the tichelaar ("brickmaker"). Children handed the brickmaker the raw material and removed the shaped bricks. Child labor was common in the industry: until well into the nineteenth century children eight years old and younger worked 16 hours per day, and children four years old stacked and carried bricks for hours at a stretch. Molds were moistened with water and strewn with sand to enable the shaped brick to be more easily removed. The "raw" or "green" stones were laid out in long rows to dry and when they were dry enough they were stood up on their side so the bottom could dry; this work was often done by women and children. Often it was the women who did the much heavier labor of moving the dried bricks to the ovens, hauling wheelbarrows with loads of up to 80 kilograms, and stacking and preparing the ovens and tending to the fire (which burned peat or coal). Ovens came in two types—a single-use construction of the kind used in the production of charcoal, and a more permanent type, basically consisting of two walls one meter and a half thick. Ovens could hold up to a million bricks. Masonry bricks were fired between 900 °C (1,650 °F) and 1,125 °C (2,057 °F), klinkers between 1,150 °C (2,100 °F) and 1,250 °C (2,280 °F). Typically, bricks were baked at low heat for two weeks to remove all remaining moisture from the clay, and then for four weeks at a higher temperature, followed by two weeks of cooling down. [6]

Since the klinker was partially vitrified by being fired at a higher temperature it was harder than the standard. Klinkers were imported into England for use as paving. [8]

Small, yellow Dutch bricks used to be imported into the United States, and as of 1840 there were still old buildings in New York faced in these bricks. They were considered superior in appearance and in durability. [9] An 1888 report noted that "in New York and other Atlantic cities we find houses built of brick brought from Holland [sic] fully two hundred years ago, without a flaw or sign of decay, and apparently as firm and sound as when first laid in the wall." [10]

Europe

Old Dutch farmhouse with thatched roof Rieten dak old farmhouse.jpg
Old Dutch farmhouse with thatched roof

Houses found today in Zeeland are closer in appearance to the fine Dutch brick houses of New York than are houses from other parts of the Netherlands. Brick farm houses built separately from barns are found in Zeeland, but none have survived in other locations. Unlike the common practice in New York, the farm houses in Zeeland do not have separate outside doors for each room. [11] The Dutch also used bricks to pave the roads, or chaussees, in the Netherlands. [12]

By the 1640s the Dutch were considered to be the leaders in Europe both in making bricks and in bricklaying. [13] The Summer Garden in Saint Petersburg, Russia, exhibits the work of Dutch brickmakers and bricklayers. [14] Saint Michael's Castle, built in Saint Petersburg between 1797 and 1801 for the Emperor Paul I, is "an enormous quadrangular pile, of red Dutch brisk, rising from a massy basement of hewn granite." [15] Sans Souci, the palace built for Frederick the Great in Potsdam, was built with a facade of rich red Dutch brick. [16]

In recent years the Dutch brick industry has attracted unwelcome attention from the European Union (EU) competition authorities. In the early 1990s the industry had excess capacity due to technological advances, competition from other materials and an economic slowdown. Producers with combined market share of 90% agreed to reduce capacity, shutting down the older and inefficient plants. [17] The producers compensated those who closed plants. However, the agreement also included fixing production quotas and fining members who produced more than their quota. The members of what was in effect a cartel were forced to drop the quota agreement by the EU. [18]

"Dutch Houses", Topsham, Devon, England Dutch Houses, Topsham - geograph.org.uk - 1314010.jpg
"Dutch Houses", Topsham, Devon, England

Great Britain and Ireland

Imported Dutch brick was often used in buildings in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. In Dartmouth, a house built in 1664 for mariner Robert Plumleigh had traditional timber-framed architecture but included elaborate star-shaped chimney stacks made from imported Dutch brick. [19] Houses in Topsham, Devon, also used Dutch brick for chimneys, window heads and dressing. One house from the late 17th century in Dutch Court in Topsham is built entirely of Dutch brick. [20] The ports of Exeter and Topsham both shipped wool to the Netherlands, and the returning ships brought bricks as ballast from Amsterdam or Rotterdam. [21]

Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, founded in 1591, was originally built of red Dutch brick. [22] Jigginstown House in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland, was built by John Allen for Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (1593–1641) using Dutch brick "of the most superior manufacture". [23] The Red House in Youghal, Ireland, was built of red Dutch brick in 1710 by the Dutch architect Leuventhal for the Uniacke family. [24]

United States

Van Alen House, Kinderhook, New York, built around 1737 Van Alen House, Kinderhook, NY.jpg
Van Alen House, Kinderhook, New York, built around 1737
General Wayne Hotel, Philadelphia, USA, c. 1803, gambrel roof added and enlarged 1866. Dutch Colonial style 5060 Germantown.JPG
General Wayne Hotel, Philadelphia, USA, c. 1803, gambrel roof added and enlarged 1866. Dutch Colonial style

In general, bricks were not imported to the American colonies. Probably none were imported to Virginia and Maryland, but in New England there was one possible example in New Haven, and there are records documenting the shipment of 10,000 bricks to Massachusetts Bay in 1628 and several thousand bricks being shipped to New Sweden. It is possible that the terms "Dutch brick" and "English brick" referred to the size of the locally-made bricks, with the Dutch bricks being the smaller. [25] However, in New Netherland there are records of brick being imported from the Netherlands as ballast in 1633, and of continued shipments until the American Revolution (1765–1783). Bricks were being fired in New Amsterdam (New York) by 1628, but the imported bricks were of better quality. At first, the bricks were used only for chimneys, but they were later used to face the lower story of the house, and then the entire house. [26]

Dutch brickmakers emigrated to New Netherland, where they built kilns for firing bricks locally. In New Amsterdam, brick was used for the director general's house, the counting house, the city tavern and other important buildings. [13] Houses were gable-ended, often with stepped designs, and the bricks ranged in color from yellow or red to blue or black. [27] An account of New York published in 1685 said, "The town is broad, built with Dutch brick, consisting of above five hundred houses, the meanest not valued under an hundred pounds." [28] A New Englander who visited New York in 1704, forty years after the Dutch had yielded the town to the British, admired the appearance of the glazed brickwork of the houses of "diverse coullers and laid in Checkers". [29] In 1845 there was still a one-story Dutch brick house built in 1696 in Flatbush, Brooklyn. The date and the owner's initials were formed by blue and red glazed bricks. [30]

A view of part of Albany, New York, as it was in 1814 shows a mixture of Dutch, English and Federal styles, although Dutch brick was reportedly used for one of the English-style houses. One house in the Dutch style was said to date from the American Revolution. If so, it would have been one of the last genuine Dutch-style houses to be built in the United States, reflecting the conservative Dutch culture of Albany at that time. [31]

Most of the surviving "Dutch Colonial" houses in New York do not in fact follow Dutch architectural practices, but there are seven in Albany County that do. The houses have a wood frame with brick walls as a decorative shell. They each have two parapet gables edged with "mouse toothing" ornamental brickwork. [32] All the Dutch brick buildings used iron wall anchors spread across several bricks to tie the brick shell to the wooden frame of the house. Sometimes the anchor gives the date of construction. The brickwork of the houses incorporated various designs including spear shapes and a form like a fleur-de-lis. [33]

Other Dutch colonies

Fort Zeelandia (Taiwan). Original wall of imported red bricks laid by the soldiers of the Dutch East India Company. An Ping Gu Bao Re Lan Zhe Cheng Yi Ji Fort Zeelandia Remains - panoramio.jpg
Fort Zeelandia (Taiwan). Original wall of imported red bricks laid by the soldiers of the Dutch East India Company.

Dutch bricks and brickwork were also imported and utilized in other colonies throughout the Dutch Empire in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. Fort Zeelandia was built on a small island off Tainan in Formosa (Taiwan) between 1624 and 1634 after the Dutch acquired Formosa from China as a trading colony. It was built using bricks from Batavia (Jakarta), where the Dutch East India Company had its headquarters. [34] After a siege in 1662, the Dutch surrendered the fort to Koxinga, a Ming dynasty general. The fort was destroyed by an explosion in 1873 when a shell from a British warship blew up the ammunition storehouse. The masonry was later used for other purposes. All that remains is part of the southern wall. [35]

The Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town, South Africa, was built in 1666. The gateway was built in 1682, with a pediment and two pilasters of grey-blue stone, and an entrance made of the small yellow bricks called ijseltene (IJssel stones). [36]

Christ Church, Malacca, Malaysia, is the oldest Dutch church building outside the Netherlands. It was built by the local Dutch burghers after the town had been taken from the Portuguese, and was completed in 1753. The church covers 82 by 41 feet (25 by 12 m), with a ceiling 40 feet (12 m) high. The foundations were local laterite blocks. The walls, which are massive, were made of Dutch bricks that had been brought as ballast in ships from the Netherlands, and they were coated with Chinese plaster. [37]

On the island of Sint Eustatius in the Netherlands Antilles, the houses were built from local volcanic stone, from imported wood, or from red or yellow Dutch brick imported from the Netherlands. [38] The traditional masonry houses were both large and solid. The country house of Johannes de Graaff, who commanded Sint Eustatius from 1776 to 1781, features a 33.6-by-9.7-foot (10.2 by 3.0 m) duck pond made of brick. [39]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brick</span> Block or a single unit of a ceramic material used in masonry construction

A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term brick denotes a unit primarily composed of clay, but is now also used informally to denote units made of other materials or other chemically cured construction blocks. Bricks can be joined using mortar, adhesives or by interlocking. Bricks are usually produced at brickworks in numerous classes, types, materials, and sizes which vary with region, and are produced in bulk quantities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mudbrick</span> Earth blocks for construction

A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of mud mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Valley Brick Works</span> Former quarry and industrial site in Toronto, Canada

The Don Valley Brick Works is a former quarry and industrial site located in the Don River Valley in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Don Valley Brick Works operated for nearly 100 years and provided bricks used to construct many well-known Toronto landmarks, such as Casa Loma, Osgoode Hall, Massey Hall, and the Ontario Legislature. Since the closure of the original factory, the quarry has been converted into a city park which includes a series of naturalized ponds, while the buildings have been restored and opened as an environmentally focused community and cultural centre by Evergreen, a national charity dedicated to restoring nature in urban environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Zeelandia (Taiwan)</span> A former fort in Tainan

Fort Zeelandia was a fortress built over ten years from 1624 to 1634 by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), in the town of Anping on Formosa, the former name of central island of Taiwan, during their 38-year rule over the western part of the island. The site had been renamed several times as Fort Orange, Fort Anping, and Taiwan City ; the current name of the site in Chinese is Chinese: 安平古堡; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: An-pêng Kó͘-pó; lit. 'Anping Old Fort'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American colonial architecture</span> Building design styles associated with the colonial period of the United States

American colonial architecture includes several building design styles associated with the colonial period of the United States, including First Period English (late-medieval), French Colonial, Spanish Colonial, Dutch Colonial, and Georgian. These styles are associated with the houses, churches and government buildings of the period from about 1600 through the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinker brick</span>

Clinker bricks are partially-vitrified bricks used in the construction of buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London stock brick</span>

London stock brick is the type of handmade brick which was used for the majority of building work in London and South East England until the growth in the use of Flettons and other machine-made bricks in the early 20th century. Its distinctive yellow colour is due to the addition of chalk. Another important admixture is 'spanish', which consists of ashes and cinders from rubbish. The spanish ignites on firing and reduces fuel costs at the firing stage. London Stocks are still made in comparatively small quantities in traditional brickworks, mainly in Kent and Sussex, for heritage work, and machine-made versions are available for use where a cheaper approximation to the traditional product is acceptable. Red stock bricks are also fairly common, but only the yellow or brown bricks are usually known as London stocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cream City brick</span> Distinctive type of brick from Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Cream City brick is a cream or light yellow-colored brick made from a clay found around Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the Menomonee River Valley and on the western banks of Lake Michigan. These bricks were one of the most common building materials used in Milwaukee during the mid and late 19th century, giving the city the nickname "Cream City" and the bricks the name "Cream City bricks".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earth structure</span> Building or other structure made largely from soil

An earth structure is a building or other structure made largely from soil. Since soil is a widely available material, it has been used in construction since prehistoric times. It may be combined with other materials, compressed and/or baked to add strength.

The history of construction embraces many other fields, including structural engineering, civil engineering, city growth and population growth, which are relatives to branches of technology, science, history, and architecture. The fields allow both modern and ancient construction to be analyzed, as well as the structures, building materials, and tools used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Tichelaar Makkum</span>

Royal Tichelaar Makkum is a Dutch pottery company in Makkum. After initially producing bricks and later pottery and tiles, the company has focused on traditional decorative pottery since 1890. As the company in Makkum has always made ceramics, Royal Tichelaar Makkum is regarded as one of the oldest companies in the Netherlands. The Royal Tichelaar Makkum has always specialized in stoneware and earthernware, and started making porcelain from 1999. The first Dutch porcelain dates to 1759, with the advent of Weesp porcelain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Zeelandia (Guyana)</span>

Fort Zeelandia is located on Fort Island, a fluvial island of the Essequibo River delta in the Essequibo Islands-West Demerara region of Guyana. Not to be confused with Fort Zeelandia in Paramaribo, Suriname, the current brick fort was built in 1743 for the Essequibo colony, replacing an earlier wooden fort built in 1726, and is among the oldest structures in Guyana. The fort replaced Fort Kyk-Over-Al as the capital of Essequibo in 1739.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centrum, Paramaribo</span> Resort in Paramaribo District, Suriname

Centrum is a resort in Suriname, located in the Paramaribo District. Its population at the 2012 census was 20,631. The historical centre of Paramaribo is located within the resort. The city centre is mainly in original condition, contains 291 listed monuments, and has of 2002 been designated a Unesco World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mathematical tile</span> Building material in southeast England

Mathematical tiles are tiles which were used extensively as a building material in the southeastern counties of England—especially East Sussex and Kent—in the 18th and early 19th centuries. They were laid on the exterior of timber-framed buildings as an alternative to brickwork, which their appearance closely resembled. A distinctive black variety with a glazed surface was used on many buildings in Brighton from about 1760 onwards, and is considered a characteristic feature of the town's early architecture. Although the brick tax (1784–1850) was formerly thought to have encouraged use of mathematical tiles, in fact the tiles were subject to the same tax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roof tiles</span> Tile designed to keep out rain

Roof tiles are designed mainly to keep out rain, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as terracotta or slate. Modern materials such as concrete, metal and plastic are also used and some clay tiles have a waterproof glaze.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buildings and architecture of Brighton and Hove</span>

Brighton and Hove, a city on the English Channel coast in southeast England, has a large and diverse stock of buildings "unrivalled architecturally" among the country's seaside resorts. The urban area, designated a city in 2000, is made up of the formerly separate towns of Brighton and Hove, nearby villages such as Portslade, Patcham and Rottingdean, and 20th-century estates such as Moulsecoomb and Mile Oak. The conurbation was first united in 1997 as a unitary authority and has a population of about 253,000. About half of the 20,430-acre (8,270 ha) geographical area is classed as built up.

J. Hallett and Son, founded in 1904, was for most of the 20th century South Australia's most important brickmaking firm. Founded by Job H. Hallett in 1889, his son Thomas Hallett became a partner in 1904. There were several sites across Adelaide's western suburbs, with Halletts retaining their identity until the 1960s, when the company was absorbed by the Nubrik Hallett group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South School (Yellow Springs, Ohio)</span> United States historic place

The South School is a historic school building in the village of Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. Over its history of more than 150 years, it has served a wide range of purposes, although it is not used now as a school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithgow Valley Colliery and Pottery Site</span> Historic site in New South Wales, Australia

The Lithgow Valley Colliery and Pottery Site is a heritage-listed former pottery and colliery and now pottery and visitor attraction at Bent Street, Lithgow, City of Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1876 to 1945. It is also known as Lithgow Pottery and Brickworks. The property is privately owned. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

The York Handmade Brick Company is a specialist brickmaker based in the village of Alne, North Yorkshire, England. The company was founded in 1988 from a previous brickmaking venture on the same site and has won many awards for projects that its bricks have been used in, and has supplied bricks for several notable buildings throughout the United Kingdom.

References

Citations

  1. "Naar zee met 6.500 bakstenen".
  2. Britton & Le Keux 1838, p. 46.
  3. Lynch 2010, p. 178.
  4. Sturgis 1902, p. 355.
  5. Janssen 1993, p. 251.
  6. 1 2 Janssen 1993, p. 251-54.
  7. Figuier 1879, p. 343-44.
  8. Manufacture of Brick – Yellow Dutch Brick 1840, p. 290.
  9. Manufacture of Brick – Yellow Dutch Brick 1840, p. 289.
  10. Adams 1888, p. 35.
  11. Blackburn & Piwonka 1988, p. 137.
  12. Murray 1850, p. 82.
  13. 1 2 Harpster 2006, p. 82.
  14. Conan & Oaks 2005, p. 79.
  15. Carr 1805, p. 206.
  16. Carr 1805, p. 301.
  17. Van Bael & Bellis 2005, p. 456.
  18. Van Bael & Bellis 2005, p. 457.
  19. Cherry & Pevsner 1991, p. 326.
  20. Cherry & Pevsner 1991, p. 823.
  21. Hoskins 1935, p. 86.
  22. Pritchett 2011, p. 47.
  23. D'Alton 1847, p. 370.
  24. Irish Tourist Board 2000, p. 217.
  25. Kimball 2001, p. 38.
  26. Kimball 2001, p. 39.
  27. Harpster 2006, p. 83.
  28. Crouch 1854, p. 565.
  29. Larkin 2006, p. 129.
  30. Denton 1845, p. 30.
  31. Blackburn & Piwonka 1988, p. 108.
  32. Brandow 1995, p. 100.
  33. Blackburn & Piwonka 1988, p. 128.
  34. Anping Old Fort, Tainan City Guide.
  35. Fort Zeelandia, History.
  36. History, Castle of Good Hope.
  37. De Witt 2014.
  38. Farnsworth 2001, p. 108.
  39. Farnsworth 2001, p. 110.

Sources