Vintage view: The history and character of old delft tiles in Amsterdam

Imagine yourself a velvet-dressed gentleman, your boot tops frothy with lace, lounging around Amsterdam in 1602. 

Consider the same old round of furry- footed horses and snaggle-toothed milkmaids cluttering up your life day in, day out.

The most exciting thing to happen since 1595 had been the introduction of a flaming lantern on every 12th house to stop hapless idiots plunging into the growing networks of canals in the gloom.