Page 17 - Made For Trade Chinese Export Paintings In Dutch Collections

64 pag:Opmaak 1
18-10-2016 21:07 Pagina 16
roos boek 001-064 f

connoisseurs in the homeland at the time of the useful for presenting new angles on treating
Dutch Republic (1581-1795), the Batavian these transnational works of art in future
Period (1795-1806), and that of the Kingdom of museum practices and strategies. On top of these
the Netherlands (1815-present). 11 Secondly, the two aspects, a third facet must be mentioned.
dearth of interest in the Netherlands for this Through this study for Made for Trade a lot of
topic and the worldwide lack of awareness of hidden existing Chinese export painting material
these collections, in contrast to the leading has become available now. Thus, another
collections of Chinese export paintings around research goal is to extend existing scholarship
the globe, creates a pressing need to unlock this on the subject.
valuable cultural heritage. 12 Made for Trade
16 aims to challenge this lack of awareness by Meaningful collectibles as art
intellectually and transnationally re-invigorating and as commodity
these painting collections through scholarly These paintings can be considered as narrative
analysis. In doing so, I hope to convert these visual records of a space- and time-specific
paintings from dissipated items in museum history. To re-contextualise them in the lengthy
basements to centralised artworks through a afterlife they have enjoyed beyond the time and
new act of inventory. Thirdly, with a few place in which they were produced it is
exceptions, no research has been conducted important not to think primarily about the
previously on the multifaceted and significant meaning of the paintings, but rather to
trajectory of the Dutch maritime trade practice emphasise what they as actants – that is, as
in the late eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth active and fundamental players in constructing
century, and the current status of the bulk of their social life – did and still do in different
historically valuable Chinese export paintings in spatial and temporal contexts. In the dynamic
Dutch museums. 13 Fourthly, there is a clear gap process of meaning construction both paintings
in existing scholarship on this subject. As will be (objects) and interpreting people (subjects) play
shown in Chapter 1, quite some research has active roles. 14 In addition to this viewpoint,
already been devoted to the topic. However, this Made for Trade makes clear that the use value –
research deals mostly with: the transfer of that is, the various kinds of values accumulated
stylistic aspects; Western and Chinese painting in these paintings – assigned to them in the
conventions; literary sources; historical models; course of time, changes as human thoughts
socio-cultural and aesthetic differences; dating about them change. The fact that, for a major
and iconographical issues; and technical analyses part of their biographical life, Chinese export
regarding conservation of pigments and paper. In paintings were treated as commodities with no
contrast, my focus on these paintings is, on the intrinsic artistic value, explains why, for a long
one hand, designed to see them as meaningful time, this art genre did not receive the right
information carriers of an unknown culture that attention. This fact, along with the difficulties
derive their legitimacy from the historical China of attributing these paintings to a clear category
trade. On the other hand, this research draws or to an obvious artistic tradition, however, does
upon current theoretical approaches, which are not preclude it is art. On the contrary, with

---
11 North 2014, 111-116, 127. The first mention of four Chineesche schilderijtjes at the Cape dates from 1713. Source:
master’s office / orphan chamber Cape Town, MOOC8/3.30.
12 The collections of Chinese export paintings in the major museums in the United Kingdom, United States,
China, Hong Kong, Macao, France, and those of the Scandinavian countries are quite well studied already.
13 Exceptions I have to mention are the growing attention and publications on artworks from Asia, including
Chinese export paintings, present in the collection of the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, with a focus on the trading and
intercultural connections between the Netherlands and the countries from where the objects originate. See: Van
Campen & Hartkamp-Jonxis 2011; Van Campen & Mostert 2015; and the exhibition Asia in Amsterdam – Exotic
luxury in the Golden Age. This exhibition on porcelain, lacquerware, ebony, ivory, silk, and Dutch and Asian
paintings ran from October 2015 to January 2016 and presented the beautiful artefacts and the history behind them.
The lavishly illustrated accompanying catalogue discusses Asian luxury goods that were imported into the
Netherlands during the seventeenth century and demonstrates the impact these works of art had on Dutch life and
art during the Golden Age. Both exhibition and catalogue were organised in partnership with the Peabody Essex
Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, USA.
14 Ter Keurs 2006, 23, 54-57, 59. See also Latour 1993. Latour would say: they are both ‘actants’, humans and non-
humans. He also suggest that many phenomena ‘should’ be described as hybrids, neither pure subject nor pure
object. The phenomenon Chinese export painting can be regarded as such.