Page 45 - Chinese and Asian Ceramics from an Indonesian Collection

Ceramics from the Musi River

Ryuku Islands showed licenses being issued for voyages to of Malacca with regional Muslim powers, but remained
Palembang in 1428, 1429 and 1430 to transport ‘a cargo undefeated there until 1641.
of porcelain and other products’. By 1487, Brown stated Given the proximity of Malacca to the mouth of
that Chinese export ceramics had fallen dramatically to the Musi River, the Portuguese undoubtedly had some
only about five percent of earlier levels. During the reign relationship with the Sultan of Palembang. However,
of the Hongzhi emperor (1488–1505) the ban on export because the Sultan joined with other Muslim forces to
of private goods was still in place. Despite this, smuggling attack the Portuguese in Malacca in 1513, relationships
was rampart and Jingdezhen blue and white wares were could not have been amicable. Despite this, in 1644 the
exported in significant quantity through Yuegang port Portuguese sent a ship laden with Chinese raw silk and
(Koh 2017c). In the following 60 years there were still mild textiles to Palembang and negotiated an agreement with
shortages of Chinese products, but by 1573 the Chinese the Sultan to supply Portuguese crown ships, discount
re-established their previous monopoly of ceramic trade custom duties on goods, and collaborate in the regional
in South East Asia. The late-Ming also embraced the world trade of pepper. However, the VOC apparently intervened
market economy and exported porcelain around the world and ensured that the Portuguese were unable to trade
on an unprecedented scale. The kilns at Jingdezhen, from Palembang (Souza 1986). We can find no evidence
which had been operating since 1004, were the largest that the Portuguese shipped ceramics to Palembang.
centre of Chinese porcelain production in the fourteenth
century. And by the start of the reign of emperor Wanli Dutch (1602 to modern)
(1572–1620) were the main production centre for large- The first Dutch ships arrived in South East Asia and
scale porcelain exports to Europe. Many wares from the Indonesia in 1595 to access spice directly from Asia. Soon
late-Ming and Qing Dynasties were exported to South East after their arrival the Dutch East India Company, VOC
Asia, including those termed Swatow Ware, which are more (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie), was established in 1602
correctly titled Zhangzhou Ware from the far south of to usurp the control of Portugal on the international
Fujian Province, and Kraak Ware from the Wanli period. trade in peppers and spice. And to this effect the VOC
fought to gain a foothold along the China coast and at
Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) other strategic trading posts during the first decade of the
Although Beijing was captured by the Qing Manchu’s in 17th century. However, this failed and the VOC fell back
1644 resistance by Ming royalty in the south, including to the Indonesian port of Batam and Patani on the east
the area of Jingdezhen kilns in southern Jiangxi province, coast of the Malay Peninsula. Although they established
continued until 1683. During this ‘transitional period’ a number of trading posts in the Indonesian archipelago,
of some forty years Jingdezhen kilns continued their including one in Palembang in 1619, they finally settled
production and produced some good quality pieces on Batavia (now Jakarta) as their administrative centre
some of which were exported to Japan and Europe by in 1619.
the Dutch East India Company (Miksic 2017) Initially porcelain was a minor commodity for the
VOC; in fact it appears that the first Chinese porcelain
EUROPEANS to reach Holland was from a Portuguese ship captured
Portuguese (1509–1641) by the Dutch in 1602, although private individuals had
The Portuguese arrived in Malacca on the Malaya taken such porcelain back to Holland earlier than this.
Peninsula in 1509. And became the first foreigners to Bantam was a well-known trading post in South East
carry Chinese porcelain directly to Europe. Chinese Asia at the time the Dutch arrived there (Ketel 2007).
merchants were clearly active in Malacca when the Unable to deal directly with the Chinese the VOC was
Portuguese first arrived, as evidenced by the presence of forced from 1633 until 1650 to establish a trading base in
five Chinese junks. They rapidly established a presence Taiwan and purchase Chinese goods, including porcelain,
in Malacca and only several years later they forced through Chinese intermediaries. They then shipped such
merchant ships to anchor in Malacca and pay duties. purchases to Batavia and onward to Holland and Europe.
The Portuguese influence further increased after 1535 They finally fought and vanquished the Portuguese in
when they obtained rights to conduct trade off Macau. Malacca in 1641, which marked the end of Portuguese
Subsequently, they opened trading enclaves at Ningpo, commercial dominance in Asia.
Foochow, and Amoy along the coast to the north. Later Study of VOC records revealed that from 1602 until
in the 16th century the Spanish shipped a little Chinese 1619 (and probably until 1624) the VOC relied on
porcelain to their new colonies in the west coast of the Chinese junks from Fujian Province to deliver Chinese
Americas, but their involvement in such trade was very porcelain from private merchants to Batam and Patani.
limited compared to the Portuguese. In the early-17th These were private Chinese merchants who had been
century the Portuguese shipped ceramics from Macau exporting porcelain since 1567 under special Chinese
to Malacca, on the Malayan peninsula. Malacca was their permits (Ketel 2007). Unfortunately, such purchases,
major trans-shipment port to Europe and the Middle East, which were during the reign of the Wanli emperor, were
as well as to other trading destinations in South East Asia. of such poor quality that little of it was actually forwarded
They fought several significant naval battles in defence to Holland. Between 1624 and 1635 supplies of Chinese

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