NL Jema

NL Jema, commonly written as JEMA-Holland, is a Dutch pottery brand whose wares were produced in the Netherlands from the 1940s onward. The brand is named after the Mager family: according to the collector-run JEMA-Holland website, the factory was established in August 1942 by Jelis Mager (born 12 June 1912 in Rotterdam) together with his brother Johan Willem Mager. Pieces are typically marked 'JEMA Holland' engraved or stamped into the base, often accompanied by a number. The output of JEMA-Holland was wide-ranging and decorative rather than utilitarian. The brand's own site organises its catalogue into categories including Animals, Aquatic, Birds, Dogs & Cats, Deer & Stags, Horses, Figurines, Clocks, Wall pieces, Black wares and Miscellaneous. Many pieces are detailed animal figurines, some compared by collectors to Beswick animal figures, while others resemble Hummel figurines. The company also produced lustre-glazed pieces, which are among the more striking examples of its work. Despite being a Dutch producer, JEMA pottery is surprisingly little known in the Netherlands itself. The JEMA-Holland website notes that the largest communities of collectors are found in the United Kingdom and Australia, and that the brand was almost entirely absent from standard books on Dutch 20th-century pottery. The site's author describes first encountering the brand on a market in South Africa, buying three lustre pieces marked 'JEMA Holland', and finding almost no published information about the maker. Because so little documentation survives, the JEMA-Holland website presents itself as a dynamic, collector-driven archive intended to gather information before the history of the factory is lost. It publishes a news section and invites contributions. The brand is no longer presented as an active manufacturer; it survives mainly through the secondary market for vintage Dutch ceramics and through the efforts of collectors documenting its marks, forms and history.

The history of NL Jema, better known as JEMA-Holland, is only partially documented. According to the collector-run JEMA-Holland website, the pottery factory was founded in August 1942 by Jelis Mager, born 12 June 1912 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, together with his brother Johan Willem Mager. The site states plainly that 'only very little is known about the history of the JEMA pottery factory in Holland', and that its purpose is to act as a dynamic tool to gather more information before the story is lost. The brand produced decorative ceramics in the Netherlands, marked on the base with 'JEMA Holland' and often a number. Its range covered animal figurines, aquatic subjects, birds, dogs and cats, deer and stags, horses, general figurines, clocks, wall pieces, black wares and miscellaneous items. Collectors have noted stylistic similarities between some JEMA animal figures and Beswick pieces, and between other JEMA figurines and Hummel figurines. Despite its Dutch origin, JEMA pottery remained obscure in the Netherlands. The JEMA-Holland site's author, a collector of Dutch 20th-century pottery, recounts having read many books on Dutch ceramics without ever encountering the brand, and only discovering it years ago on a trip to South Africa. On a local market about three years before writing, the author bought three lustre pieces that were 'a bit over the top but actually quite striking, detailed and well made', each marked 'JEMA Holland' with a number. Attempts to research the maker yielded almost nothing, and a collectors' bookstore indicated that no book had probably ever been written about it. The website notes that interest in JEMA pottery is limited in Holland, with the largest numbers of collectors in the United Kingdom and Australia. The brand is presented as deserving a place in Dutch pottery history alongside better-known makers. Today JEMA-Holland functions primarily as a collector archive and information hub, with a news section and an invitation for further contributions, rather than as an operating manufacturer.

• 1942

  The JEMA pottery factory is founded in August by Jelis Mager and his brother Johan Willem Mager.

• 1912

  Jelis Mager, co-founder of the JEMA pottery factory, is born on 12 June in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

A little-documented Dutch decorative pottery brand of the mid-20th century, collected mainly in the UK and Australia rather than its home market.

• Animal figurines

  Detailed animal figures, some compared by collectors to Beswick animal figurines.

• Lustre-glazed pieces

  Striking lustre pieces marked 'JEMA Holland' with a number.

• Hummel-style figurines

  Figurines described as very similar to Hummel figurines.

• Clocks and wall pieces

  Decorative clocks and wall-mounted ceramic items listed in the brand's catalogue categories.

1. 1Welcome to the JEMA-Holland Websitejema-holland.com
2. 2JEMA-Holland | All About JEMAjema-holland.com
3. 3NL Jemawikidata.org