Jasper Andries and Jacob Jansen: European migrants

The object was made in a factory in Aldgate which belonged to Jasper Andries and Jacob Jansen. The two men were originally from Antwerp in the Netherlands.

Jasper and Jacob asked Queen Elizabeth to grant them sole rights to manufacture this particular type of pottery in London for 21 years. She turned down their request, so the pottery could be made by other factories too. Nonetheless, both men said they would pray for the queen's 'godly and prosperous success'.

Their pottery factory would have been very small by modern standards. When the plate was produced, there were thirteen potters working there, all of whom had either come from the Netherlands or from Italy. The factory itself was in part of a building that had been converted from a former monastery. The pottery was sold from Jacob's house, The Rose, which was nearby.

There were a number of European immigrants working in Elizabethan London. Most of them were Protestants who had fled to England to escape religious persecution in their own countries. Many of them brought their own skills and expertise, contributing to the country's industrial growth. They taught Londoners new techniques of glazing pottery, manufacturing glass, engraving metal, making watches and weaving tapestries.

Delftware plate, 1600

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