T.A.C. Colenbrander
Theodoor Christiaan Adriaan Colenbrander (1841-1930; known as T.A.C., despite the order of his names) began his career working for architects in Holland and later for a Dutch firm in Paris. In 1884 he joined the newly founded Hague ceramics firm, Rozenburg. Colenbrander's decorations, inspired by nature and architecture, are exceptionally exuberant and inventive. Colenbrander left Rozenburg in 1889 and later reprised his style at RAM in Arnhem in the 1920s.
T.A.C. Colenbrander was the nephew of the founder of New Gelderland, a clergyman who had spent a decade in Indonesia before emigrating to Africa. Indonesia then as now had an enormous Islamic population. Even if only though letters from distant places, the youth would have been familiar with the concept of foreign and exotic cultures. Many years of T.A.C.'s youth are unaccounted for, suggesting (while not proving) that he, like his male cousins, may have spent some time visiting their missionary uncle.
The shapes of his covered vases recall both the majolica apothecary jars that originated in the Islamic world and had been produced in Europe since the 15th century and elements of traditional Dutch garnitures.
Colenbrander is also well-known for his carpet designs, interior designs, and book illustrations. While his sources continue to be a subject for debate, many agree that his designs foreshadowed abstract expressionism.
