Page 41 - Zhangzhou Or Swatow The Collection of Zhangzhou Ware at the Princessehof Museum, Leeuwarden, Netherlands

inhoudidddd
The Trade of Zhangzhou Ware to the West

The Trade of Zhangzhou Ware to Portugal

The Santos Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, now the French embassy, has an unique room, casadas porcelanas,
created between 1664 and 1687: inside the pyramid vault the four triangular sides are covered with over 260
pieces of blue and white Chinese porcelain, the earliest dating from around 1500, the latest from the middle of
th
the 17 century. Among numbers of Kraak porcelain, made in Jingdezhen, there are three Zhangzhou dishes.
The Santos Palace documents the dominant role Portugal played in the China trade.
The Portuguese were the first European power to show up in the South China Sea, coming via the Cape of
th
Good Hope in South Africa in the early 16 century. Their aim was to monopolise the great profits in the spice
trade.
In 1511, they had conquered Malacca and seized a part of the Southeast Asian trade. They traded directly from
India to China and Japan via Malacca, exporting Indonesian spices and importing Indian textiles and Chinese
ceramics.
In 1517, they reached the port of Yuegang. Because in Yuegang the imposition of the trade ban was less
stringent and effective, the Portuguese tried, in some cases successful, to cooperate with the local elite. But in
1548, they were driven out of the coastal provinces. In 1577 , however, the Chinese government allowed the
Portuguese to base themselves at Macao in exchange for promises that they would assist Chinese forces on
land and at sea.
The Ming court finally realized the futility and difficulties of keeping the ban. By legalising and officially
recognising Yuegang as the port for foreign trade in 1567, it hoped to curb corruption and smuggling activities.
Yuegang benefited from the new policy and became an important international port of the late Ming period.
th
The Portuguese were the biggest buyers of Chinese ceramics in the 16 century. The most impressive
testimony is the ceiling of the Santos Palace, covered with Chinese porcelain.

Ceiling of the Santos Palace, Lisbon

Ref: Goldschmidt 1984: Carswell 2000; Canepa 2006

41