A large Dutch Delft blue and white 'horserider' tile made for the French Chateau de Beauregard, ca. 1627 Dim.: 15,8 x 15,8 cm  Provenance: The collection of Piet Swimberghe, art historian and author of various works and articles on the subject of European pottery.  This large tile was originally part of the floor of the French Château de Beauregard, in the Loir-et-Cher region. The entire order consisted of ca. 7000 of these 'soldier' tiles, decorated after engravings from Jacob de Gheyn's 'Wapenhandelinghe van roers, musquetten ende spiessen' (Amsterdam, 1607). Only a small number of tiles from this one-off order has found its way into private collections, mostly from the group that was kept aside to be used as replacements. The actual in situ tiles have greatly suffered, as they were originally produced as wall tiles. The German occupation in the 2nd World War didn't help either.  See also:- The Dutch tile museum, Otterlo, nr. 08488, for another tile from the same group. (link)- Chateaux-france.com, where two similar tiles from the floor are published. (link)