KOK, J. Jurriaan
Dutch ceramicist and architect. He trained as an architect at the Polytechnische School in Delft and practised his profession in The Hague from 1883 until 1893. Between 1894 and 1913 (when he became the alderman for public works of The Hague), he worked at N.V. Haagsche Plateelbakkerij Rozenburg, a delftware factory in The Hague, first as an aesthetic adviser, as manager after June 1894 and a year later as general manager. He introduced numerous improvements in the production process. With chemist M. N. Engelen he developed several chemical methods to make porcelain, resulting in a wafer-thin product that was a type of eggshell porcelain suitable for many ceramic applications. The porcelain was shaped in plaster moulds and biscuit fired at a low temperature. After that, the product was painted, glazed and fired at a high temperature.
Through Kok’s work, the factory became prosperous, but it was forced into liquidation during World War I because of the relaxation of import and export restrictions. Kok was responsible for the choice of his friend Hendrik Petrus Berlage (1856-1934) to become the architect of the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague.
