Page 307 - Chinese and japanese porcelain silk and lacquer Canepa

y Pura Concepción when it wrecked en route to Spain sixteen years later, in 1641 example from the Little Collection was sold at
(Fig. 3.1.2.16). 1005 This letter of 1634, together with the material, textual and visual auction in Christie’s London, sale 7523, 1 May
2007, lot 132. For more information on British bell
evidence discussed earlier, indicates a date of c.1630–1635 for the Wanli shipwreck. candlesticks, see Journal of the Pewter Society, Vol.
5, No. 2 Autumn, 1985.
From the answer Tayouan sent to Batavia in September 1635 it is clear that the VOC 988 These artifacts are now housed in the Rijksmuseum
employees were not pleased with the porcelain table plates brought back by the Chinese in Amsterdam. They were included in the catalogue
J. Braat e.a. (red.), Behouden uit het Behouden
merchants, as it states ‘The table plates were not made with wide and flat enough Huys. Catalogus van de voorwerpen van de
borders like the sample provided’. 1006 Nor they were made with a ‘smooth and glazed Barentsexpeditie (1596) gevonden op Nova Zembla.
De Rijksmuseumcollectie, aangevuld met Russische
base, without an edge or rim, suitable to move over the cloth on the table’ as requested en noorse vondsten, Amsterdam, 1998. I am grateful
to Jan de Hond, History Department Rijksmuseum,
in the Batavia letter of July. 1007 For the latter it seems they accepted the explanation for this information. For a brief discussion on this
given by the Chinese saying that it ‘cannot be omitted, because all the porcelains that expedition, see Marten Jan Bok, ‘European Artists
in the Service of the Dutch East India Company’, in
are fired must have a rim on the bottom to separate them, otherwise they will fire on DaCosta Kaufmann and North, 2014, pp. 177–178.
989 For an example of this latter type, see David S.
to each other’. 1008 Howard, The Choice of the Private Trader. The Private
In May 1639, Batavia sent an order and samples to Tayouan, which emphasized Market in Chinese Export Porcelain illustrated from
the Hodroff Collection, London, 1994, p. 217, no. 253.
again the orders given in July 1635 and March 1637 not only rejecting the ‘Dutch 990 Blue-and-white porcelain tiles of square shape
made at Jingdezhen for the domestic market
painting, flower and leafwork’ but also requesting good porcelain material, glaze and in the late Ming dynasty were usually of larger
cobalt blue decoration. 1009 It reads: ‘Hand these samples to the Chinese, let them size, ranging from about 20 to 22 cm, and had an
unglazed stepped edge with cut-off corners. For
know that we desire finer ones, that close attention should be paid to the painting and two examples in the British Museum, dating to
the late sixteenth/early seventeenth century, see
especially that all Dutch flower work should be omitted, that the blue should not be Harrison-Hall, 2001, pp. 325–326, nos. 11:132 and
11:133.
too pale or too dark, as the memorandum shows emphatically, and when you contract 991 For examples, see Ibid.
for these porcelains for the Chinese, do not commit yourself to the former prices, 992 For this opinion, see Jörg, 2002–2003, p. 22; and
Ostkamp, 2011, p. 29.
which [former porcelain] indeed is not rare, but clumsy and thick work as seen in the 993 VOC 1116. Cited in Viallé, 1992, p. 9.
samples, and with which Holland thus remains flooded and does not give reasonable 994 VOC 857. Cited in Viallé, 1992, pp. 10–11.
995 t is important to note that stylized tulips, carnations
I
profits, but satisfy them and pay to the order and the quality of the wares’. 1010 and other flowers with stiff leaves appear on the rim
panelled borders of a group of Chongzhen Kraak
To conclude this section of European influence on porcelain it is important dishes and bowls, usually of large size, such as the
to discuss a group of large and heavily potted saucer dishes decorated in underglaze bowl illustrated here as Fig. 3.4.2.2.5a and b. They
also appear on bottle vases, such as the example
cobalt blue or in overglaze red, turquoise and black enamels which were made in the in the Topkapi Saray and the shards of another
excavated from the same strata as the tankard
late sixteenth or early seventeenth century at the private kilns in the nearby areas shards at the Shibaqiao kiln site in Jingdezhen
of Zhangzhou in Fujian province (Appendix 2). They are decorated with a central discussed earlier. See Krahl and Ayers, 1986, Vol. II,
p. 811, no. 1629; and Huang, 2009-2010, p. 95, fig.
medallion enclosing a marine rose with thin lines radiating outwards, two European 7; respectively. Although, as discussed elsewhere,
these stylized flower motifs closely resemble the
ships with two masts and two tiers of sails, a Chinese coastline with houses and flowers shown on Iznik pottery and Ottoman textiles
mountains, and a giant leaping fish (probably referring to the dangers of open sea of the second half of the sixteenth and first half of
the seventeenth century, it is likely that the flower
voyages) (Fig. 3.4.2.2.8). In the past, as noted elsewhere, dishes of this type were motifs depicted on the porcelain were taken from
printed sources or wall-tiles provided by the Dutch.
attributed to the city of Lisbon because the Lisbon arms depict Portuguese ships sailing For an Ottoman silk kemma border in the Sadberk
on calm or rough seas. No documentary evidence, however, was found to support this Hanim Müzesi in Istanbul published alongside
a Kraak dish of this type, see Canepa, 2008/2,
theory. 1011 The central scene, combining European and Chinese motifs, has been the pp. 38–39, figs. 16 and 18.
996 Tulip bulbs were sold at very high prices. In 1637,
subject of much discussion. It has been a common opinion among scholars that the bulbs were sold faster than they could grow and
scene was inspired by a European nautical map, which in the early days of maritime this resulted in speculation. Many pamphlets were
published ridiculing the craziness of this speculative
cartography usually illustrated coastlines with landmarks, islets, ships and marine trade. The Wageningen UR Library holds 32 of such
‘Tulipmania’ pamphlets. For information and other
roses. This research study found an anonymous Dutch nautical map of Nova Zembla, images from the nursery catalogue illustrated here,
published in 1598, depicting a closely related scene with a central marine rose, ships see http://bit.ly/WDaurG. Accessed October 2014.
For a recent and comprehensive discussion on the
with two masts and two tiers of sails, and a large fish, which suggested that the source ‘Tulipmania’, see Anne Goldgar, Tulipmania: Money,
Honour, and Knowledge in the Dutch Golden Age,
of this scene may have been Dutch rather than Iberian (Fig. 3.4.2.2.9). Recent research Chicago, 2007.
by Suebsman has shown that the central scene and the cartouches repeated twice on 997 The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen also
houses a set of tin-glazed earthenware wall-tiles
the border that appear to represent a European armorial flanked by two long-tailed depicting stylized tulip flowers dating to c.1640,
Acc. No. A 5030 (KN&V). Published in D. C. Mees,
parrots were most likely based on a sea chart of the coast of Portugal from a nautical Kunstnijverheid en tegels 1600–1800 – Applied
atlas entitled Spieghel der Zeevaerdt, first published by the former Dutch Captain from arts and tiles 1600–1800, Rotterdam, 1997, p. 307.
Also see the set of wall-tiles decorated in blue and
Enkhuizen, Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer (1533/34–1606), in 1584 (Fig. 3.4.2.2.10). 1012 colours depicting single tulips and other flowers
framed at either side by baluster borders and a
The find of this sea chart is of particular importance for this research study. This group fluer-de-lis at each corner in the Victoria and Albert
306 Silk, Porcelain and Lacquer
of Zhangzhou saucer dishes has now become a unique and fascinating example of
porcelain made with European motifs reflecting both Portuguese and Dutch influence,
which relate to European sea trade routes, as well as Chinese motifs. The source of the
Museum, museum no. C.534:4–1923. A wall-tile from decoration is of Dutch origin, but depicts a sea chart of the coast of Portugal, which
this set is published in Wu, 2014, p. 186, fig. 7.34.
998 I am grateful to my PhD supervisor Prof. Dr. Christiaan according to Suebsman may have served as a guide to the sea route to Zhangzhou. A
Jörg for bringing to my attention this wall-tile and a
similar example (damaged) in the Museum Boijmans few saucer dishes with overglaze enamel decoration include four opposing roundels
Van Beuningen (acc. no. A 7184). For an image of the round the rim, each enclosing a Chinese character that read jinyue yuanlai (pleased to
latter wall-tile, see Mees, 1997, p. 331 (top image).
999 Anne Gerritsen, ‘Invloed, imitatie en materiële kunst have arrived whether from far or near), 1013 a proverb from the Analects of Confucius,
van de 17e en 18e eeuw’, Aziatische Kunst, Jaargang
43, Nr. ¾, October 2013, pp. 33–35, fig. 12. such as the example from the Percival David Collection, now in the British Museum
1000 Jörg, 1993, p. 188, note 13. The painting on leather (Fig. 3.4.2.2.11). 1014 A blue-and-white saucer dish in the Herzog Anton Ulrich
was published earlier in Leonard Blussé, Tribuut
aan China: Vier eeuwn Netherlands-Chinese Museum in Braunschweig includes on the central scene the characters tianxia diyi,
betrekkingen, Amsterdam, 1989, p. 70.
1001 Published in Julia B. Curtis, Chinese Porcelains of which translates as ‘the best under heaven’. 1015 These dishes, as noted by Sargent and
the Seventeenth Century, Landscapes, Scholar’s Suebsman, appear to have served not only as sea charts and bringers of good luck, but
Motifs and Narratives, exhibition catalogue, China
Institute Gallery, New York, 1995, p. 35, fig. 1; and also as self-promotion from the kilns of Zhangzhou where these dishes were made. 1016
Canepa, 2008/2, pp. 40–41, fig. 21.
1002 Porcelain shards excavated from both Shibaqiao From the VOC documents and extant pieces of porcelain with European shapes
and Lianhualing kilns were studied by the author and/or motifs discussed above it is possible to conclude that the Dutch influence on
during a research trip to Jingdezhen in 2010. A
large fragment of a bowl and a shard of a dish of porcelain made to order at Jingdezhen in the early seventeenth century was much more
this type excavated at Lianhualing, is published
in Canepa, 2008/2, p. 22, fig. 5. For images of the prominent than that exerted by the Portuguese and Spanish in the sixteenth and early
interior and exterior of a fragment of a bowl of this seventeenth centuries, though still limited. The Dutch succeeded in having European
type excavated from the site, see Cao and Luo,
2006, p. 20, figs. 33 and 34. shapes copied almost exactly as the models provided for use in daily life actvities,
1003 The shard of the bowl is illustrated, together with
Kraak porcelain shards, by Takashi Sakai in the especially eating and drinking at the dinner table. Their first orders of porcelain with
paper Taiwan and Southeast Asian Arts, Vol. 9, specific European motifs, however, were not delivered. Later when the Jingdezhen
Trade in the 17th century-2. The shard of the dish
illustrated here is published in Lu, 2012, p. 245, potters finally made the desired porcelain with European motifs, the VOC continued
fig. 22. I am grateful to Lu Tai-kang for allowing
me to include an image of this shard in this to receive porcelain with Dutch paintings and flowers for some years despite their
doctoral dissertation.
1004 VOC 857. Cited in Viallé, 1992, p. 11. repeated instructions to omit it from orders because customers in the homeland did
1005 For a discussion on these bell-cups with ears, see not regard it as exotic and thus did not want it. It appears that Dutch printed sources
section 3.1.2 of this Chapter, fig. 3.1.2.16.
1006 VOC 1116. Cited in Viallé, 1992, p. 13. also influenced the decoration of a group of dishes in the somewhat cruder porcelain
1007 VOC 857. Cited in Viallé, 1992, p. 11. made by the Zhangzhou potters in southern China. The process of ordering porcelain
1008 VOC 1116. Cited in Viallé, 1992, p. 13.
1009 VOC 857 and VOC 316. Cited in Viallé, 1992, pp. made after European shapes or motifs provided, as shown by the VOC documents
10–11, and p. 14; respectively.
1010 VOC 863. Cited in Viallé, 1992, pp. 21–22. discussed above, was both complex and lenghtly. Dutch merchants always depended
1011 Discussed in Canepa, 2006, pp. 27–28, figs. 14–16, on the Chinese junk traders to place an order, who first had to understand the specific
and pp. 138–143; and Canepa, 2010, pp. 63–64, figs.
3 and 4. Also see, Ströber, 2013, pp. 144–145, no. 45. requirements made by their new European customers, in order to communicate them
1012 Daniel Suebsman, ‘Porzellan au seiner Nor-
deutschen Privatsammlung’, in Annete to the porcelain potters and decorators of these important manufacturing centres of
Kanzenbach and Daniel Suebsman (eds.), Made export porcelain, which were not only located far from the port cities, but also from
in China. Porzellan und Teekultur im Nordwesten
im 18. Jahrhundent. Ein Kapitel Handels- each other. Although this indirect trade in porcelain proved to be dissapointing at
geschichte, exhibition catalogue, Ostfriesisches
Landesmuseum, Emden, 2015, pp. 95–96, cat. 4. times for the Dutch, as the special orders were sometimes not entirely fulfilled to their
I am grateful to Daniel Suebman for granting me expectations, we have a wide variety of surviving pieces that clearly reflect the Dutch
permission to include an image of the sea chart in
this doctoral dissertation. desire to incorporate the imported porcelain with exotic decorations into their daily
1013 For the transliteration of the characters, see Scott
and Kerr, 1994, p. 40, no. 86. These characters have life not only in the Dutch Republic but also in the Dutch colonies in both Asia and
also been translated as ‘from far and near it’s a the New World, but in shapes that suited their own culture.
pleasure that you come’ and ‘Make happy those
who are near and those who are far will come’.
See, Harrison-Hall, 2001, p. 323, no. 11:125; and
Suebsman, 2015, p. 95; respectively.
1014 For another example in the Idemitsu Museum of
Arts in Tokyo, see Yuba Tadanori, Chinese Ceramics
in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, cat. No.
879. One other in the Seikado Bunko Art Museum is
published in Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Swatow
Wares from the Seikado Collection, Tokyo, 1997,
p. 35, no. 27. Mentioned in Canepa, 2006, p. 141.
1015 Mentioned in Sargent, 2012, p. 166, and p. 173,
note 13.
1016 Ibid., p. 166; and Suebsman, 2015, p. 95.
Trade in Chinese Porcelain 307