Page 46 - Chinese and Asian Ceramics from an Indonesian Collection

Chapter 3. Ceramic Trade and the Musi Rive

porcelain were irregular, but towards the end of that sultanate intermittently was under British suzerainty
period the quantity of porcelain received by the VOC (1811–1814; 1818–1821) and was finally abolished by
was considerable. For example, Chua (2007) reports that the Dutch in 1823.
219, 027 pieces of blue Ming ware arrived in Amsterdam
in June 1634. After 1635 both the quality and supply British (1672 to modern)
improved. The VOC stopped buying porcelain in the 1690s In 1672, the English East India Company finally secured
until 1720s because it was unprofitable. Instead private a trading post in Taiwan, ten years after the Dutch East
merchants shipped Chinese porcelain to Amsterdam India Company had been expelled from the island by the
from Batavia on Company ships (Koh 2014d). By the Chinese. The Company was soon engaged in direct and
late-17th century high quality blue and white porcelains regular trade with the Chinese from Taiwan and made
from kilns in Jingdezhen had become a prominent part regular voyages to Amoy, Chusan and Canton. By 1700,
of this trade (Sheaf and Kilburn, 1988). Chinese junks the Company moved its base from Taiwan to Canton when
were bringing 2,000,000 pieces of porcelain to Batavia it was granted a monopoly of trade by the British in the
each year with 400,000 purchased by the VOC, another East Indies until 1833. The British were briefly engaged at
400,000 by private merchants, and 1,200,000 by local and Palembang during an interregnum from Dutch control.
inter-Asian traders (Jörg and Flecker, 2001). In 1813 the British sacked the city and placed a friendlier
The VOC gained permission to establish a trading Sultan in control. Three years later the Dutch resumed
post at Palembang in 1617. Although this post was control. During the British interregnum it was reported
closed several years later, the VOC retained contact with that imports into Palembang comprised English, Indian
the Palembang traders who dealt with pepper. Finally, and Java cloth, copper, iron and steel products, tea, drugs,
Batavia asked the sultan for permission to re-open the Chinese silk, nankeens and earthen wares (Thorn 1815),
Palembang trading post. They were given a contract by but there was no mention of Chinese porcelain.
the sultan, which provided them with authority over all The Banten Sultanate, centred on the port of Banten
foreign ships calling at Palembang. The VOC was, however, was founded in the 16th century. It was frequently visited
still dependent on the sultan’s final decisions on their by traders from England and Holland, as well as China,
exercise of this authority. India, Turkey and Portugal, to trade in a variety of goods,
VOC interest in Palembang appeared minimal including ceramics. The English and Dutch established
for several decades, although it is likely that they sent a permanent trading post at Banten in 1602 and 1603,
shipments of Chinese porcelain to Palembang. As respectively. Banten continued as an important trading
evidence, Ketel (2007) noted that in 1636, VOC records centre until 1619 when the Dutch moved there operations
show that ‘each month porcelain, mainly coarse ware, to Jakarta. The National Museum of Singapore displayed
is sent from Batavia to Java/Bali/Sumatra/ Borneo and a collection of Chinese blue and white porcelain shards
Jambi’ from Banten, collected by Professor Miksic, which were
However, the VOC interest in their Palembang trading mainly from the Wanli and Tianqi periods. They indicated
post was spiked by a desire to participate more fully in the that the peak of ceramic trade at Banten was from the
Sumatran pepper trade, such that in 1642 they obtained late-16th to early-17th century. A small collection of good
a monopoly to trade pepper in Palembang. This was, quality Wanli blue and white ‘Kraak’ porcelain purchased
however, never a complete monopoly because local by us were also found in a hole in Banten in 2010 (they
entrenched Chinese merchant intermediaries continue were probably items broken in-transit or during handling
to participate actively in the Sumatran pepper trade. and then discarded by traders).
In attempting to enforce their monopoly relationships
between the VOC and Palembang broke down, particularly
with Sultan Abdul Rahman of Palembang (1662–1706),
who resented the VOC trying to control both import of
cloth and sale of pepper outside its supposed monopoly
(Ricklefs 2008). This conflict culminated in the VOC
attacking Palembang in 1659 and burning down much
of the city. The discovery in 1710 of tin on Bangka
Island, which was controlled by Palembang, again
resulted in more VOC interest in their Palembang trade
post. Although VOC records later show the Company
considered Palembang an expensive post providing
them with insufficient rewards for their involvement in
trading tin. Relatively little information is available on the
Palembang VOC Trading post until 1811, when Sultan
Mahmud Bahruddin captured the VOC Palembang
trading fortress. It was recaptured the next year. The

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