Marot provided designs for a wide variety of objects, from clocks and canopied beds to chandeliers and carriages. There was a real frenzy for Asian porcelain and Asian inspired European ceramics at the time of his arrival in the Netherlands. Several of his published engravings of interiors illustrate how such ceramics could be included in elaborate symmetrical arrangements.
At Hampton Court Palace, Marot went a step further and came up with designs that fully integrated ceramics rather than placing separate ceramic objects within rooms as if the were pieces of furniture. He provided designs for a series of large Delft tiles that would have lined the interiors of the Water Gallery for Queen Mary II. These large Delftware bowls are thought to have been designed by Marot specifically for the dairy of the Water Gallery. At the time, this space must have been popular for the ladies of the court to retire.
Costly Delft ceramics even formed part of the seasonal furnishing of the formal gardens after designs by Marot. This is supported by evidence in the form of archaeological fragments of Delftware vases, found at Royal Palace Het Loo. After reconstruction of the gardens in the 20th century several Delftware vases were copied based on archaeological fragments, these now furnish the parterres once again.
Marot’s had a far reaching influence on the way ceramics were displayed and arranged, and consequently became part of the interior. His arrival in the Netherlands coincided with a period when vast quantitoies of porcelain were imported through the East India Company and the height of quality productions of Delftware. His clientele included people like Queen Mary II who possessed large quantities of porcelain, which needed to be displayed. Rather than treat these items as singular objects Marot conceived designs where they were displayed symmetrically, arranged on brackets and ledges, on mantlepieces, over doors, and on purpose built cabinets. These impressive arrangements of blue and white provided much-valued colour and reflection. So popular were these arrangements that special orders were placed with porcelain factories in China to produce quantities of small decorative vases and jars that served no practical purpose, but would look impressive when arranged in groups. In 1989 a shipwreck known as the Vung Tao was discovered off the coast of Vietnam, with a partriculalrly well-preserved cargo of porcelain that can be dated to the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722). This cargo contained vast quantities of this type of “Marot ware” used for decorative displays.
