Named for the Dutch city of Delft that was a center for its manufacture, delftware was made throughout Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is a variety of earthenware with tin oxide added to its lead glaze formula to give an opaque white effect that was often used to imitate, or at least suggest, the appearance of Chinese porcelain. Metallic oxides provided a range of colors for decoration: cobalt for blue, manganese for purple, iron for red, copper for green, and antimony for yellow.

In 1764, Jacobus Adriaens Halder became owner of the Greek A factory in Delft, which had been established in 1658 and had experience considerable success; his ownership lasted approximately four years. The factory continued in operation into the early 1800s.