Who were the oldest Delft Blue makers in the Netherlands?

The oldest Delft Blue makers in the Netherlands date back to the early 1600s, during the Dutch Golden Age. Delftware, often called Delft Blue, became popular after Dutch traders imported Chinese porcelain through the Dutch East India Company. Local potters in Delft started duplicating the blue-and-white style around 1620 and one of the best-known factories was De Porceleyne Fles, founded in 1653 in Delft. The company still operates today under the name Royal Delft. At its peak in the late 17th century, Delft had more than 30 pottery factories producing plates, tiles, vases and decorative figures. Records from 1680 show thousands of ceramic pieces leaving Delft workshops every year for markets across Europe, many early factories used names linked to symbols rather than street numbers, such as The Metal Pot or The Double Tankard.