Image: Jac. Bongaerts, Duvelskaetel Sjteyl. Courtesy of Keramiekcentrum Tiendschuur Tegelen.
Keramiekcentrum Tiendschuur Tegelen will devote an exhibition to the Tegelen ceramist Jac. Bongaerts (1920–1997) from 20 December 2026 to 4 April 2027. The museum titles the show ‘Jac. Bongaerts: Meesterkeramist uit Tegelen’ (Master Ceramist from Tegelen) and presents it as a tribute to a maker who was born in the town and worked there all his life.
In the museum’s account, Bongaerts saw himself above all as a potter rather than an artist, and his work puts craft first — in particular the techniques and the folk art that gave Tegelen ceramics their reputation and recognisable character. The museum also credits him with helping to establish the well-known Russel-Tiglia workshop and with spending the rest of his life keeping Tegelen’s ceramic traditions alive.
The exhibition follows a gift received in 2024. The museum’s exhibition page says the donation came from the heirs of Jac. Bongaerts and went to both Keramiekcentrum Tiendschuur Tegelen and the Tegelmuseum in Otterlo, describing it as an addition to the Tegelen ceramic heritage of the past century. The museum’s newsletter describes the same transfer as the Jacques Bongaerts collection received from the Stichting Behoud en Beheer Keramisch Erfgoed Jac. Bongaerts, the foundation set up to preserve and manage his ceramic legacy, and says the gift is what makes the survey possible.
Ahead of the exhibition, the museum hosts a book presentation on Sunday 13 September 2026 from 14:00 to 15:30 for a richly illustrated biography of Bongaerts by Carel van Nisselroy. The author will speak about Bongaerts’s life and work and about how the book came about, the first copy will be formally handed over, and copies can be viewed, bought and signed afterwards. Attendance requires registration, which the museum directs through the Historische Kring Tegelen.
Neither the exhibition page nor the newsletter states how many objects will be shown, how the display will be organised, or which individual works are included. The museum is at Kasteellaan 8 in Tegelen.
