BNPG.eu

The Baltic and North Atlantic Pottery Research Group (BNPG) is a group of archaeologists, historians, art historians and other scholars with a passion for medieval and post-medieval pottery produced and traded within Northern Europe. It was established in 2016 with the aim of bringing together specialists from different regions to meet and exchange knowledge.

Following the very successful first five meetings in Stockholm 2016, Tallinn 2018, Stralsund 2020, Bergen 2022 and Bonn 2024, we decided to meet again in two years in Enkhuizen, the Netherlands.

We hereby announce that the sixth meeting will take place in Enkhuizen on 23-25 April 2026. This time, we have also set a broadly defined topic for our meeting. The organisers are especially looking for presentations that are dedicated to more or less common pottery from the medieval and later periods: technical ceramics (such as inventory of the laboratories), ceramics as weapons, religious and cult items made of clay, ceramic culinary tools, etc. However, we understand that not every possible participant has such evidence; thus, papers focusing on other subjects are also welcome. We will also encourage submittingposter presentations, but due to the extremely tight timetable, we can’t provide a floor for every topic.

Enkhuizen is a picturesque city with many buildings dating back to the Dutch Golden Age. It has a significant trail
of early modern Werra pottery production. The venue of our meeting is the Barbican of Enkhuizen
called ‘De Drommedaris’ (the Dromedary), a well-kept defence tower and former town gate.
This time, the BNPG meeting will be slightly different from the previous ones. To stimulate networking,
the organisers of the conference have agreed to hold a joint event with our Dutch-Flemish counterpart,
the Assembled Articles conference series. Assembled Articles is a research group of Dutch and Flemish
specialists in medieval and post-medieval ceramics. The language of the conference is English only.

Next to the presentations, we will also have a hands-on class on Enkhuizen, Dutch and imported late
medieval – early modern pottery, provided by Wytze Stellingwerf, ceramic specialist of the province of
North-Holland. Enkhuizen is a seaborne town of the former East India Company (VOC), well known
for its Chinese porcelain, international tinglaze wares and exotic materials. In addition, there will also be
an excursion on Saturday, 25.04.2026. The destinations are to be decided, but promise to be rather
unique. We would also like to inform you beforehand that due to the special location, our organising
costs will be, for this time, higher than previously. Thanks to the generous support of the local
institutions, we have been able to reduce it by a certain amount, but the conference fee will still be
higher than usual. The conference fee will be € 100 for professionals and € 75 for students. This will
cover the coffee and lunch breaks, and trivialities. It will not include the conference dinner on
23.04.2026. We hope for your understanding.

We encourage everybody interested in the topic to send their abstract of no more than 250 words by
01.11.2025 to bnpg@bnpg.eu and for registration of participation by 15.01.2026 to
archeologie@hoorn.nl. For additional information, please contact m.bartels@hoorn.nl.

Enkhuizen has a direct train connection to Schiphol Amsterdam International Airport at a 30-minute
interval. Accommodation is widely available in hotels, B&B’s and holiday parks in and around the town.

Organizing committee for the meeting:
Michiel Bartels, Hoorn. Torbjörn Brorsson, Lund.

Arno Verhoeven, Amsterdam. Erki Russow, Tallinn

BNPG.eu

Welcome to the Baltic and North Atlantic Pottery Research Group

6th Meeting in Enkhuizen, 23-25 April 2026