Page 69 - For the Love of Porcelain

porcelain, lacquer and other products, which A few pieces of coloured ware were found, dinner during the negotiations of the Treaty thus on a so magnificently set table: and
he can sell in Batavia for a 50 per cent profit, including a sherd of a small Kakiemon-style of Utrecht (1713) between the Dutch and the dessert would have been well worthy to
14
and some gold koban’. cup and dish (fig. 6). Coloured Kakiemon the English, commented on the splendidly form part of this tableau, since one may say
was very expensive and must have been used arranged table. without hyperbole that one has never seen
It is clear that private trade united a only very occasionally. Mostly, it would a more beautiful fruit course. Everything
network that spanned Japan, Batavia and have been for display and therefore very few I wish I had been able to draw it all together; was served on porcelain from Japan of
19
the Netherlands. It seems that in the late pieces were thrown away. The quantity of it would have been a thing of beauty to enchanting beauty.
seventeenth century, private trade was Japanese porcelain is substantial and nearly behold, this illustrious assortment arranged
facilitated by a system of agents, patrons and all of it of is very high quality (figs. 4 and
clients, who exchanged goods, knowledge 5). Many are Kakiemon pieces, from the
Notes
and money for mutual benefit. Batavia, kilns in the Nangawara district of Arita. 17
as the VOC headquarters in Asia, was an Cuper seems to have owned several sets of
1 This article is a summary of the lecture 10 C. Viallé, ‘Tot schenckagie daar het te pas 16 ‘1110 straw [bundles] with porcelain (stroijen
essential link in this international chain. a particular type of Japanese blue-and-white ‘世界を魅了した有田焼’ (‘Arita Porcelain comen sal’, Aziatische Kunst 23(3) (1993), pp. met porseleijnen)’ Dagregister Batavia 1683,
dishes and cups, each consisting of a large that Fascinated the World’), at the symposium 2–21. Square bottles for such square cases f. 87, 20 January 1683. Porcelain was packed
有田焼の伝統と未来へ続く創造性 (Arita were shipped for 50 condrijn each (100 in straw bundles, which on average
Trade in Batavia was complicated. Dutch number of pieces.
Porcelain:Tradition and Forward-looking condrijn equal 1 tael), on 15 October 1687 contained around 20 pieces (M. Sakuraba,
ships came and went, but in the 1680s Creativity) inthe Kyushu National Museum, (Journalen comptoir Nagasaki, NA 1.04.21, Western Courts and Japanese Export Porcelain:
European ships and Chinese junks also This is highly reminiscent of the types found Fukuoka, 8 March 2015. 871). Cultural Creation through East-West Trade,
2 E. Mittendorf, A. Berends, ‘Effigies idolorum 11 For Witsen, see M. Peters, De wijze koopman: Tokyo 2014, p. 79). The remainder of the
arrived in Batavia at various intervals from in another great Dutch Kakiemon collection sinensium’. Bijzondere vondsten uit de het wereldwijde onderzoek van Nicolaes Witsen cargo consisted of other Japanese products,
Japan, carrying letters from the Dutch in in Twickel Castle, which belonged to the Van beerput van Gisbert Cuper in Deventer’, (1641–1717), burgemeester en VOC- such as copper, sake and soy sauce, so it may
Dejima. For instance, VOC documents Wassenaer family, important members of the Vormen uit Vuur 230(1) (2016), pp. 10–19. bewindhebber van Amsterdam, Amsterdam be assumed that the porcelain was Japanese
I am deeply indebted to both authors for 2010; and W. van Noord, T. Weststeijn, ‘The too.
state that on 23 January 1683 a letter from political elite in the Netherlands. Twickel generously granting access to the finds in Global Trajectory of Nicolaas Witsen’s Chinese 17 I consider both underglaze and overglaze
Cleyer in Nagasaki was delivered to Batavia Castle still houses a magnificent collection Deventer. Mirror’, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 63 (2015), pp. decorated pieces that were produced by
3 C.W. Fock, ‘The Apartments of Frederick 325–61. the kilns in the Nangawara district of Arita as
by a Chinese junk. Three days earlier, of Japanese porcelain that probably dates
15
Henry and Amalia of Solms: Princely 12 For Cleyer, see D.F. de Haan, ‘Uit oude Kakiemon.
it is reported that some 22,000 pieces of back to the early eighteenth century. 18 It is Splendour and the Triumph of Porcelain’, in notarispapieren II. Andreas Cleyer’, Tijdschrift 18 M. Fitski, ‘“Old Coloured Japanese Porcelain of
porcelain arrived from Japan on another remarkably similar to the finds from Cuper’s P. van der Ploeg and C. Vermeeren, Princely voor Indische Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde XLVI the First Class”: The Kakiemon Collection at
Patrons: The Collection of Frederick Henry of (1903) pp. 423–68. Twickel Castle’, in: Aziatische Kunst 40(4)
Chinese junk. 16 Although this certainly cesspit. Here too are sets of very high Orange and Amalia of Solms in The Hague, 13 For Kaempfer, see D. Haberland, Engelbert (2010), pp. 2–21.
does not amount to proof, it is possible that quality blue-and-white porcelain from the The Hague 1997, pp. 76–86. Kaempfer 1651–1716: A Biography, London 19 ‘Pour moi j’aurois souhaité qu’on eût pû le
4 T. Kemper, ‘“Der Triumph des Porzellans in 1996. dessiner tout d’un coup; ç’auroit été quelque
Cleyer may have used the Chinese junks to Nangawara kilns, bearing the same type of
Europa”. Zu Augustin Terwestens Deckenbild 14 ‘Want behalve dat moet hy zich niet chose de beau à voir que cette illustre
privately send items other than letters from decoration (figs. 7 and 8). Could these be the in der Porzellankammer des Schlosses ondernemen Batavia te verlaten, veel assemblée, ainsi range autour de cette Table
Japan to Batavia, so as to not use cargo space types of porcelain that arrived through the Oranienburg’, in R.L. Colella (ed.), Götter und minderwaarts te keeren, zonder waardige si magniiquement servie: & le dessert auroit
Helden für Berlin: Gemälde und Zeichnungen erkentenissen aan zyne weldoenders, ten zy hy bien merité d’entrer dans le Tableau; car on
on Dutch ships. If this were the case, Cleyer private network? Private trade would have von Augustin und Matthäus Terwesten in ‘t toekomende niet wil uytgesloten blyven peut dire sans hyperbole, qu’on n’a jamais vû
would naturally have been dependent on offered the possibility of exclusivity: some (1649–1711) · (1670–1757) buyten eenig diergelyk Eer-Ampt. De goederen un plus beau fruit. Il étoit tout servi en Porcelaine
Zwei niederländische Künstler am Hofe die hy te rug brengt naar Batavia zyn Zyde du Japon, d’une beauté enchantée.’ Anne
others in his network to deliver any wares things were only available to those with the
Friedrichs I. und Sophie Charlottes, Berlin 1995, Tabbaards, welke hy ontfangen heeft als Marguerite Petit Du Noyer, Lettres historiques
to the intended recipient in the Netherlands. right contacts. pp. 93–101; Schloss Oranienburg: Ein Inventar Geschencken van den Keyzer en van zyne et galantes, de deux Dames de Condition, dont
aus dem Jahre 1743, Berlin 2001, pp. 43, 95, Staats Dienaars, dewelke hy weder schenkt aan l’une étoit à Paris, et l’autre en Province: Ouvrage
128–29. zyne Vrienden en Voorstanders; Eetwaaren, curieux, Amsterdam 1720, p. 28.
Cuper and Japanese porcelain Tableware of enchanting beauty 5 See M. Fitski, Kakiemon Porcelain: A Handbook, Porceleyn, verlakt Japansch Goed en andere
Let us return to Cuper, the scholar and Among Cuper’s Japanese pieces are a large Leiden 2011, pp. 28–33. Handwerkselen van’t Land, dewelke hy op
burgomaster who was so well connected to number of small dishes that have tiny 6 See C. Viallé, ‘Company Trade and Private Batavia kan verkoopen met 50 ten honderd
Trade in Japanese Porcelain in the winst, en daar benevens noch eenige Cobangs
Witsen and the VOC. A recent excavation scratches, indicating that they may have Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century’, in in Goud.’ Kaempfer, De beschryving van Japan,
in Deventer revealed part of Cuper’s been used as tableware. To find this many Journal of the Kakiemon-style Ceramic Art The Hague/Amsterdam 1729, pp. 262–63.
Research Center Kyushu Sangyo University, no. 15 ‘In the evening received by a Chinese junk
residence, including the cesspit that signs of wear and tear certainly testifies
3, Fukuoka 2007, pp. 141–52. belonging to our Chinese captain Wanjock
contained household waste. This enables Cuper’s high social standing – his guests may 7 National Archive, The Hague (NA), Resoluties a letter from Japan written by Mr Andries
us to get an idea of the items that were well have been entertained with his high- van de Heren XVII, NA 1.04.02, 104, f. 102. Cleijer opperhoofd and the Council of
8 Resoluties van de Heren XVII, NA 1.04.02, 108. Nagasaki to his Hon dated 16 December
used in his household, and the results are quality tableware. Their use as tableware 9 E. Kaempfer, De beschryving van Japan, 1682.’ (Dagregister Batavia 1683, f. 118, 23
simply fascinating. First of all, a great deal is also suggested by the fact that many The Hague/Amsterdam 1729, pp. 257–58. January 1683). These letters from Japan by
Chinese junks arrived mostly in winter: on 17
of porcelain was found. It is very unusual to of these pieces belonged to sets. Indeed,
February 1685, 6 and 16 February 1686,
find this much porcelain, and if this is how records confirm that in the upper echelons 11 March 1695, 15 and 31 January 1694, 27
much was discarded, Cuper must indeed of society, Japanese porcelain was used as December 1696, 11 February and 6 March
1698, and on 2 February 1699, while Chinese
have had a very sizeable collection. Secondly, tableware, specifically for desserts. Madame junks also sometimes seem to have carried
the proportion of Japanese porcelain is du Noyer, a famous eighteenth-century letters from Batavia to Japan, for instance on
24 May 1685, 6 June 1687 and 27 June 1689.
unusually high. French journalist who was present at a
64 I vormen uit vuur vormen uit vuur I 65