Page 185 - Chinese and japanese porcelain silk and lacquer Canepa

Fig. 3.2.1.4 Large Kraak dish from the VOC
shipwreck Witte Leeuw (1613) that despite the larger quantities of porcelain now regularly available in the Dutch
Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi province Republic, porcelain was still considered rare and/or valuable in the early years of VOC
Ming dynasty, Wanli reign (1573–1620)
370
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam trade. The ordinary trade porcelain includes three crudely potted bowls sketchily
(museum no. NG-1978-127-5) painted in watery cobalt blue with a scroll of stylized lotus and leaves (Fig. 3.2.1.6). 371
Fig. 3.2.1.5 Kraak elephant-shaped kendi from The Zhangzhou porcelain of the Witte Leeuw includes a saucer-dish with a pair of
the VOC shipwreck Witte Leeuw (1613) phoenixes with overlapping bodies (Fig. 3.2.1.7), similarly decorated to about 853
372
Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi province
Ming dynasty, Wanli reign (1573–1620) examples recovered from the Binh Thuan shipwreck, a Chinese junk that sank east
Height: 17cm of Phan Thiet in southern Vietnam in the first decade of the seventeenth century.
373
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
(museum no. NG-1977-172-W) An almost identical example excavated in Hoorn, north of Amsterdam, demonstrates
that at least a few such saucer-dishes were imported into the Dutch Republic. Three
374
Fig. 3.2.1.6 Blue-and-white bowl from the
VOC shipwreck Witte Leeuw (1613) saucer-dishes show a similar phoenix within a diamond and trigram border design to
Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi province that of examples recovered from the San Diego (1600), shards salvaged from the Wanli
Ming dynasty, Wanli reign (1573–1620)
Height: 10.8cm; diameter: 11cm shipwreck (c.1625), as well as shards found at the survivor’s campsite of the Portuguese
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam shipwreck São Gonçalo (1630), at Moneda Street in Mexico City and at the Santo
(museum no. NG-1977-149-W)
Domingo convent in Oaxaca (Fig. 3.2.1.8).
375
The Gelderland, which sailed from Bantam in 1614, carried the largest quantity,
Opposite page
Fig. 3.2.1.7 Zhangzhou blue-and-white saucer a total of 69,057 pieces of porcelain. Besides the usual types of porcelain, the bill of
dish from the VOC shipwreck Witte Leeuw lading lists half-sized white klapmutsen, most probably the type made at Jingdezhen
(1613)
Zhangzhou kilns, Fujian province with moulded decoration such as an example in the Groninger Museum in Groningen
Ming dynasty, Wanli reign (1573–1620) (Fig. 3.2.1.9), low white cups and plain white cups. Shards of blue-and-white
376
Diameter: 27cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam porcelain from both Jingdezhen and Zhangzhou similar to those found on the wreck
(museum no. M-NG-1977-166-W-00) site of the Witte Leeuw were recovered from the Banda, which wrecked during a storm
Fig. 3.2.1.8 Fragment of a Zhangzhou in 1615 on a reef off the coast of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean (Fig. 3.2.1.10). 377
blue-and-white saucer dish from the VOC The Banda, together with the Delft, Geünieerde Provinciën and Gelderland, were part
shipwreck Witte Leeuw (1613)
Zhangzhou kilns, Fujian province of the same return fleet from Bantam. The Jingdezhen porcelain includes over 40
Ming dynasty, Wanli reign (1573–1620) 362 bid., p. 42. intact Kraak saucer dishes, klapmutsen and a bottle, as well as a group of tiny finely
I
Diameter: 19.3cm 363 The porcelain recovered was all unpacked and
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam no loose remains of packing were found. For a potted wine cups with flame motifs above a band of scrolls encircling the foot ring like
(museum no. M-NG-1978-127-11850-W-00) discussion on the Kraak, Zhangzhou and other those from the Wiitte Leeuw (Fig. 3.2.1.11). A floral still life painting dated 1617 by
porcelain recovered from the shipwreck, see C.L.
van der Pijl-Ketel (ed.), The Ceramic Load of the the Dutch artist Christoffel van den Berghe (c.1590–1650), who is documented as
‘Witte Leeuw’, Amsterdam, 1982; Robert Sténuit,
‘Les Porcelaines du Witte Leeuw’ in ‘Céramiques du having been in Middelburg between 1617 and 1628, confirms the presence of such
intact or reconstructed pieces and 200–300 kilos of shards, there is no mention of Compagnie, Deel 3, F.W. Stapel (ed.), ’s-Gravenhage, fond des mers Les nouvelles découvertes’, Taoci, No. cups in the Dutch Republic in the late 1610s (Fig. 3.2.1.12). The Banda also yielded
1943, Rijks geschiedkundige publicatiën Grote Serie
2, December 2001, pp. 562–576; Christine van der
porcelain on the bill of lading. The porcelain on board, as Viallé has convincingly 87, Bijlage A, No. 2, Instructie voor Pieter Both, Pijl-Ketel, ‘Kraak Type Porcelain and other Ceramic shards of Jingdezhen white cups of small size with semi-pierced swastika or wan lattice
363
Gouverneur-Generaal, en die van den Raedt van Wares Recovered from the Dutch East Indiaman the
argued, most probably belonged to the crew and part of it may have been consigned Indiën, […] gegeven by de gecommitteerde van de “Witte Leeuw”, Sunk in 1613’, Transactions of the decoration with a cobalt blue mark on the base. Governor-General Pieter Both was
privately on behalf of others. The early seventeenth century porcelain consists Oostindische Camer tot Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Oriental Ceramic Society, Vol. 67, 2002–2003, pp. 91– on board the Banda, so it is possible that part of the porcelain may have been his
364
98; Christine van der Pijl-Ketel, ‘De ceramiek uit de
14 Nov. 1609, pp. 522–523, No. 18. Mentioned in
mainly of a large assortment of Kraak, various other types of Jingdezhen ordinary trade Viallé, 2014, p. 40. Oost-Indië-vaarder de Witte Leeuw’ [The Ceramics private consignment. The Geünieerde Provinciën, which sank on the same storm as
353 VOC, Inv. No. 1053, Bantam, 10 Nov. 1610, Jacq from the East-Indiaman the ‘Witte Leeuw’], Vormen
blue-and-white porcelain, a small quantity of the coarser Zhangzhou blue-and-white Lhermite de Jonghe aan de Heren bewinthebberen. uit Vuur, Nr. 180/181, 2003/1–2, pp. 42–47; Canepa, the Gelderland and the Banda, carried a considerable number of Jingdezhen white
Cited in Volker, 1954, p. 24; and Viallé, 2014, p. 44.
porcelain as well as a variety of stoneware jars. Kraak porcelain included shards that 354 For more information on violations during this early 2012/2, p. 14; and Viallé, 2014, p. 42. Caution has to cups with semi-pierced swastika decoration like those from the Banda (Figs. 3.2.1.10
365
be taken when referring to the dating of porcelain
formed part of a considerable number of dishes and plates, ranging from large to small period of trade, see Ibid., p. 40. recovered from this wreck site. The finds, as and Fig. 3.2.1.13), together with Jingdezhen bowls decorated with peony scrolls
378
355 Mentioned in Ibid. Ostkamp recently pointed out, are not exclusively
size, decorated with various panelled rim borders (Fig. 3.2.1.4). The presence of 356 Mentioned in Volker, 1954, p. 24. from the Witte Leeuw, but at least from one or more and Chinese characters. Only a small quantity of Zhangzhou blue-and-white shards,
366
such dishes/plates in the Dutch Republic at about this time is attested by an example 357 Mentioned in Ibid.; and Christine van der Pijl-Ketel, ships that wrecked in the harbor of St. Helena in the with similar designs to some of the pieces found in the Witte Leeuw wreck site, have
379
‘Kraak porcelain ware salvaged from shipwrecks of
late sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Moreover,
depicted containing cherries in a still life painting formerly attributed to Clara Peeters, the Dutch East India Company (VOC), in Vinhais and it is known that the 1982 publication on the Witte washed up on the beach of Albion, where the Geünieerde Provinciën shipwrecked and
Welsh, 2008/2, pp. 67 and 69. Leeuw’s cargo has a few errors in the classification
dating from 1610–1615. It is worth mentioning that an inventory of the estate of 358 See Michael L’Hour, Le Mauritius. La mémoire and/or dating of some of the pieces recovered. See, broke into pieces (Appendix 3).
367
380
Ostkamp, 2014, pp. 57–59.
Hendrik Buyck (b. 1551), who had invested 12000 f. in VOC shares, 368 drawn up engloutie, Grenoble, 1989; M. L’Hour, L. Long and E. 364 Viallé, 2014, p. 44. The return cargo of diverse origins of the Hollandia, one of five VOC ships
Reith, “The wreck of the ‘experimental’ ship of the
after his death in 1613, lists at least 220 pieces of porcelain, which include a variety ‘Oost-Indische Companie’: The Mauritius (1609)’, 365 I am grateful to Christine van der Pijl-Ketel for that left Batavia in November 1627 and arrived in the Dutch Republic in June 1628,
The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology providing me with images of porcelain recovered
of dishes, plates and bowls, as well as an ‘elephant’ which was most probably a Kraak and Underwater Exploration, 1990, 19.1, pp. 63–73. from the Witte Leeuw. For a discussion on the included 16 tubs of porcelain reported as ‘conquered’, which was most probably booty
elephant-shaped kendi like that recovered from the Witte Leeuw (1613) (Fig. 3.2.1.5), 359 For this opinion, see Ibid., p. 67. Zhangzhou porcelain recovered from the wreck site, taken from at least four Portuguese ships defeated by VOC ships in the Straight of
360 Mentioned in Volker, 1954, p. 25.
see Canepa, 2012/2, p. 14.
and from the Spanish shipwreck San Diego (1600). As Van Campen has remarked, 361 For the list of porcelain from the bills of lading of the 366 For a discussion and images of these dishes, see Van Malacca that year. This is just one example that shows that captured cargoes were
369
381
Vlissingen and Wapen van Amsterdam, see Viallé, der Pijl-Ketel, 1986, pp. 53–82.
the detailed descriptions of damaged porcelain found in Buyck’s inventory suggest 2014, Appendix IV, p. 51. 367 Published in Canepa, 2014/1, pp. 34–35, fig. 17. part of the imports in the Dutch Republic.
184 Silk, Porcelain and Lacquer Trade in Chinese Porcelain 185