Heineken Miniature Monuments weaves together the histories of Heineken and three Dublin pubs, and immortalises them as one, we used the uniquely Dutch craft of blue Delftware to create one-of-a-kind bar taps – each one of which is an exact scale replica of the pub it’s in. This idea was designed to be more than a short-term promotion. These ceramic Heineken beer taps were created as bespoke sculptures to honour all that is great about these iconic Dublin pubs and to guarantee that Heineken would maintain its place in these bars long into the future. Our strategy of bringing miniature replicas of the pubs to life in a distinctively Dutch, authentically Heineken way was the best way to ensure publicans felt real ownership of the bar tap, recognizing their own stories in the familiar, yet new, object.
We meticulously sketched the architectural details of the facades of the three iconic Dublin pubs, then designed them as miniature sculptures to fit around the workings of a Heineken beer tap. The taps needed to be both functional and beautiful, so they were slip cast in a strong and durable ceramic to ensure they would survive the busy bar environment. Each tap was painstakingly carved in relief by hand, then slip cast in ceramic. After being kiln fired, each piece was then hand painted in the traditional Dutch cobalt Delft blue with details from each pub’s facade combined with traditional blue Delft decoration. The techniques employed have remained unchanged at Royal Goedewaegen, one of the oldest blue Delftware manufacturers in the Netherlands, for over 400 years, making the final installations a perfect combination of Dutch and Irish traditions in the form of bespoke ceramic Heineken beer taps. Every pint of Heineken now poured in these landmark pubs flows through a miniature monument honouring hundreds of years of Dutch, and Irish, tradition.
