Furniture from the Netherlands East Indies 1600-1900

Furniture from the Netherlands East Indies 1600-1900 a historical perspective based on the collection of the tropenmuseum

Dave van Gompel in cooperation with Joost Hoving and Reinier Klusener

KIT Publishers

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Contents

4 Foreword – Koos van Brakel 5 ‘Of very questionable artistic value’ 13 16th century: Upon arrival of the Dutch in East India 25 17th century: The age of expansion and settlement 47 18th century: The age of disaster and extravagance 65 19th century: The colonial era 75 The many colours of ebony. A technical survey of the ebony furniture collection of the Tropenmuseum – Joost Hoving and Reinier Klusener 101 Highlights from the furniture collection of the Tropenmuseum 133 Notes 139 Literature 143 About the authors

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Foreword Over the last ten years, the Tropenmuseum has substantially improved the way it manages its collection, thanks to the ‘Heritage Extra’ funds, received from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Development Cooperation. Its storage facilities have been upgraded, it has carried out conservation treatment on several of its subcollections, and made its entire collection of items and photographs accessible to the public via internet. This publication too, on furniture from the Netherlands East Indies in the collection of the Tropenmuseum, was realized through funding from the same project.

The Tropenmuseum possesses a substantial and important collection of furniture from the former Netherlands East Indies. Over 60 items belong to the so-called category of ‘ebony furniture’, named after their commonly black appearance.

It is somewhat surprising that this group of items has received very little scholarly attention through archival research or hands-on research on the items themselves.

The modest amount of available literature leans heavily on a great number of assumptions and suspicions for which little historic evidence can be found. Many of these assumptions were already posed by the earliest works on the subject, and were later adapted by several new generations of researchers. It is therefore with great pride that the Tropenmuseum presents this publication, which is the result of a fouryear conservation and research project. The conservation project provided a unique opportunity for research on subjects such as timber species, lacquers and finishes, construction methods and the often debatable authenticity of many such items. We are convinced that the data that has been collected will be of great importance for future research on this unique group of furniture. Already, a number of remarkable conclusions can be drawn from these results; conclusions that force us to alter our current views on furniture from the Netherlands East Indies.

The research by Dave van Gompel traces the history and assessment of furniture from the Netherlands East Indies, drawing on contemporary sources from the 16th through to the early 20th century. Highlights from the collection of the Tropenmuseum are discussed in a short catalogue. Joost Hoving and Reinier Klusener report the technical findings that resulted from conservation project carried out in their workshop. The Tropenmuseum would also like to express its gratitude to Iep Wiselius (Wiselius Raadgevend Adviesbureau) for his timber analysis, Henk van Keulen of the Dutch Institute of Cultural Heritage (RCE) for his analysis of finishing layers, and conservator Martijn de Ruijter of the Tropenmuseum, for his continued support during the project.

Koos van Brakel – Head of Collections, Tropenmuseum

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indonesian furniture scrutinized

‘Of very questionable artistic value’

‘The exhibition on Indonesian textile art features a large amount of furniture (...), of which the majority is of a very questionable artistic value, and as such essentially does not belong in this environment of beautiful native art (...)’1 These opening lines to a review of an exhibition of Indonesian crafts held at The Hague in 1901, is typical of the general view held on ebony furniture from the East Indies by the Dutch during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Even the official catalogue of that same exhibition openly qualifies the furniture on display as being of ‘most diverging in beauty, that which everyone who has eyes shall see at our exhibition for themselves’.2 The exhibition focussed mainly on textiles, and the addition of furniture seems to have been more of an afterthought.

Several pieces from the private collection of Dr. W. J. Oosterhoff Neys and his wife were on show; they collected a rather impressive number of mostly ebony chairs and benches during their stay in Batavia in the last quarter of the 19th century.

Oosterhoff was also the first Dutch author to devote an article to these remarkable pieces of Eastern craft – in 1898. Such furniture had been generally overlooked by Dutch critics and historians alike. After the death of her husband, Ms. GijblandOosterhoff Neys left their impressive collection to several Dutch museums; the Colonial Museum in Haarlem became one of the main beneficiaries. Under its new name and location, Amsterdam’s Tropenmuseum still houses one of the largest collections of Indonesian furniture in the Netherlands.

Although he clearly emphasizes its lack of artistic value at the start, the reviewer continues by illustrating the apparent appeal that such furniture held for the general public: ‘For both categories [of visitors, being repatriates and the general Dutch audience] this furniture forms the main attraction! A great deal of ornament, deeply cut, many curls and foliage superfluously covering every area, slithering turning work, whilst the chic ebony black promotes a hint of distinction. Now that’s furniture!’

Despite his earlier warning, the author succeeds in describing the European audience’s first impression of such furniture, which probably holds true to

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this day. Having been called many names in the past, from ‘Tudor furniture’ to ‘Portuguese colonial’ and ‘Dutch colonial baroque’, this very distinct type of furniture is better known simply as ‘ebony furniture’ for its commonly black appearance.3 Another term that has been used more recently in an attempt to avoid colonial connotations, is the somewhat more general term ‘Company furniture’.4 Whatever name one may prefer to use, the common features of these pieces of furniture are so universally recognisable, that there can be little doubt as to the group it concerns. Featuring mostly chairs, settees and benches, and on somewhat more rare occasions tables and cabinets, practically all these pieces are in the aforementioned black and feature rattan webbed seats, as well as being decorated with spiral turning and carved foliage. After three centuries of Dutch presence in the East Indies, ebony furniture appears to have been the first type of Indonesian furniture to reach the Netherlands as curious antiques of a long forgotten era.

And even though general interest seems to have remained low in the Netherlands, this group still received far more attention than the European- and Chinese-style furniture that dominated the 18th century interiors in the colonial trading posts of the East.

Shifts in interest It is somewhat surprising that ebony furniture has escaped the interest of academics in the Netherlands for so long, with much of the literature on the subject being written by avid collectors and eager connoisseurs. Many questions around the origins of ebony furniture – or, indeed, East Indian furniture in general – remain difficult to answer to this day, so it is not surprising that the subject has always been somewhat shrouded in mystery. Indeed, this may explain a large part of its appeal; there are no specific names, dates or places that can be confidently linked to such furniture. Historic reference material is scarce, to say the least. This aspect is also clearly underlined by our anonymous reviewer, who writes: ‘Although as historical pieces they are not devoid of importance, their origin is entirely shrouded in darkness, and nothing can positively be said about their makers; the very absence of such details is what makes this cabinetwork so stimulating.’

While the above quote may have been true for the Netherlands at that time, general and scholarly interest in ebony furniture actually appears to have originated in England at a much earlier time. This is clearly illustrated in the work of Jaffer, who describes several noteworthy British collectors who possessed ebony furniture during the 19th century. He also illustrates how ebony furniture made its way to Britain as early as the mid-18th century, where it was noticed by Horace Walpole and would later feature prominently in the Holbein Chamber of his Strawberry Hill estate, even though it was then considered to date from the Tudor

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era.5 During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, ebony furniture was already decorating British interiors as part of the prevalent Gothic revival at that time, so it makes sense that the country would be the breeding ground for interest in the subject.6 As intriguing as ebony furniture may have been to the British, the Dutch showed little interest in the subject – not even in collecting it to adorn their interiors – until the late 19th century. Although one cannot exclude the possibility that such furniture made its way to the Netherlands at an earlier time, it clearly did not spark enough interest to inspire any writing on the subject. In fact, the first documented presence of ebony furniture in the Netherlands, which was exhibited at the 1883 World Exhibition in Amsterdam, seems to have been met with indifference by visitors and critics alike. Several pieces of ebony furniture, including a settee, chairs and a cabinet, were exhibited in the so-called ‘Retrospective exhibition of ancient art’ that formed a separate section of the World Exhibition.7 These pieces were housed in one of the wings of Amsterdam’s still unfinished Rijksmuseum, effectively making the museum’s very first public exhibition one on colonial art, featuring ebony furniture.

Ebony furniture at the 1883 World Exhibition in Amsterdam. Also included is the well-known Raffles chair. Photographed by P. Oosterhuis, 1883. City archive of Amsterdam: 010005000940

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It is not clear whether the origin of ebony furniture was fully understood by the World Exhibition’s organizing committee. According to Terwen-de Loos, this collection of ebony furniture was put together by Dr. E. Van Rijckevorsel and was merely intended to be an example of how Europeans lived in Indonesia, not to be presented as a valuable antique collection.8 This would suggest that unlike in the Netherlands such furniture was fashionable in the Netherlands East Indies during the late 19th century – this will be discussed in the following paragraph.

Ebony furniture, however, was not the only type of furniture on display at the exhibition. Also exhibited, but not included in the wing of ‘retrospective art’, were several more commonly seen pieces of East Asian furniture that were made after European examples, most notably a set of the well-known Raffles chairs, as well as common teak furniture. Most of the examples on show were actually for sale, effectively combining the artistic and economic goals that had been set out by the committee.9 The exhibited collection of ebony furniture was eventually left to the Museum Boymans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, in 1936, having failed to attract any notable attention.

By the late 19th century, the British had abandoned their Tudor attribution in favour of one of Asian origin. Oosterhoff reached a similar conclusion in 1898, marking it as furniture from an ‘Indo-European society’.10 Oosterhoff was also the first to notice the slowly emerging presence of such furniture in the collections of Dutch museums and likewise the lack of knowledge on the subject in his homeland. The slew of articles that is summed up in his paper illustrates how debate on the origins of ebony furniture was quite vivid abroad, particularly in Britain, but received little or no attention in the Netherlands. He points out that an ebony chair could be seen at Haarlem’s Ethnographisch Museum in 1898, without any form of description regarding its possible origin, as well as there being a similar chair on show at Heeswijk Castle, in the south of the Netherlands, that is noted as being ‘East Indian’. Even though a link to the history of the Dutch Company (the VOC) may have been suspected at the time, it seems that this was yet to be publicly discussed. The suspicion though, is most strongly expressed by the Haarlem craft museum during the same year. In an announcement for an upcoming exhibition, the press release reads: ‘Currently at the museum of crafts, an important collection of antique furniture can be observed. This furniture has been made for two to three centuries in the Dutch East Indies out of ebony and ironwood. Their style is most peculiar and shows similarities to the old Dutch, Portuguese and even Hindu style. (...) They provide a faithful representation of the art and artistic skills of the natives of Java during the early days of the Company. (...)

Most rare, even in the large museums of Europe. For the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies, these pieces of furniture genuinely represent a national meaning.’11 Collections of ebony furniture in Dutch museums started to take shape at a relatively late date. This is probably largely due to the unfamiliarity with the origins of such objects, but also to the rather dual position with which these objects have

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long been burdened. The warning lines from the reviewer quoted at the beginning of this chapter are typical of the prevailing attitude in the Netherlands during the late 19th and early 20th century, which can be found in several other reflections from this period. It seems that ebony furniture was initially observed primarily as an effort by native Indonesian craftsmen to imitate European furniture styles; an effort at which they failed miserably according to the critics. As such, they were not seen as objects that belonged to ethnographic collections, nor were they considered to be of sufficient quality to be collected as objects of art. There was a general disdain for the imitation of European arts and crafts by Asians, who, it was felt, could never hope to achieve the same level of craftsmanship. Such items started flooding the European markets as part of export art during the late 19th century. Whereas orientalism promoted the appreciation of traditional, native (read ‘Hindu’) forms and decorations, objects that showed obvious European influences were often regarded as mere shadows of their examples. Thus, the artisans of the Netherlands East Indies were never regarded as being capable of understanding the subtleties of Western form.12 Perhaps this is the main reason why ebony furniture was long disregarded and only started to attract interest when suspicions arose that it might be part of a long-forgotten page in the history of Dutch Company history. Oosterhoff played an important role in this shift in interest by dedicating the first Dutch article on the subject – often quoted – and offering his personal collection for exhibition, to the general public in Batavia and later in the Netherlands, after repatriation. Their objects had been ‘saved’ from the Batavian kampongs during several years of avid collecting. Oosterhoff even complains about the attitude of his fellow countrymen, who showed little interest in his collection and mocked it, calling it a ‘pile of old timber’.13 Several museums in the Netherlands currently posses minor collections of South East Asian furniture, such as the Museum Boymans Van Beuningen and the Wereldmuseum – both in Rotterdam, the Museum Nusantara in Delft, Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn and the Amsterdam Museum. However, the most substantial and representative collections can be found in the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde in Leiden, the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and Amsterdam’s Tropenmuseum. Most of the records in these museums reveal that furniture from the Netherlands East Indies was rarely part of a deliberate collecting strategy. In fact, the majority of such items was left to the museums by private collectors, most of whom had brought them to the Netherlands after repatriation. As such, the body of these collections was gathered during the first half of the 20th century, most notably during the 1930s and 1940s and such collections often also included European- and Chinese-style furniture.

Some museums even own pieces – mostly chairs – that are said to have been owned by well-known Indonesian rajas, although evidence for such attributions is often very thin. It is quite rare to find objects that have actually been acquired at auctions, although some examples can be found at the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde and particularly Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum where many objects

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were actively acquired after the 1960s, mostly through donations and acquisitions from Dutch foundations such as the Vereniging Vrienden der Aziatische Kunst (VVAK) and Stichting Cultuurgeschiedenis van de Nederlanders Overzee (CNO).14 Since the Rijksmuseum, in particular the former curator of its sculpture and crafts department Th. H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, helped found the CNO, the museum has always been the main beneficiary. According to Lunsingh Scheurleer, East Indian furniture was still met with a great deal of indifference during the 1960s,15 and we must acknowledge that the situation has probably only moderately improved since then. To this day, the Rijksmuseum is the only Dutch museum to actively expand its collection of furniture from these regions and is the only museum to have an example of ebony furniture on permanent display.16

Batavian antiques Whereas the Dutch in the Netherlands seemed almost completely unaware of the existence of ebony furniture in general, those who had lived in the Indies certainly were not. By the mid-19th century, ebony furniture started to appear at Batavian auctions and attracted the interest of a select group of collectors.17 Among them were many members of the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences, most of whom were substantially wealthy and had a keen interest in the history of Dutch colonialism.

The society was then housed in the building that is currently the Museum Nasional of Indonesia and was already partially furnished as a museum during the early 20th century. One of its foremost members and former director of the Ethnographisch Museum in Leiden (which later became the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde), Dr. Lindor Serrurier, was also an avid collector of these historical pieces. After his early death, his wife decorated one of the rooms of the society as a Company period room.

Similar period rooms were later installed in the Netherlands, but were based on little to no historical evidence on what these rooms may have actually looked like during the 17th century. Dr. Thomassen á Thuessink van der Hoop was another key figure in the formation of a collection of ebony furniture in Batavia. From 1936 to 1950 he continued to expand the society’s collection and completed that of the current Museum Nasional. Many of the society’s members left pieces from their private collections to Dutch museums after repatriation. In fact, it is thanks to their efforts and those of their contemporaries that Dutch museum collections started to take form during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.18 Although most collections focus on ebony furniture, some rare pieces of furniture dating from the 18th and 19th centuries can also be found, and they often paint a far more interesting picture than their precursors. Unfortunately, these have received even less interest than the mysteriously appealing ebony collections.

It is most important to note that the collecting of ebony antiques did not go unnoticed amongst the craftsmen of the major Indonesian cities, particularly Batavia and Semarang. As ebony furniture gained popularity, craftsmen started

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making copies in what must have been substantial numbers. In fact, one of the most important outcomes of the Tropenmuseum’s conservation project, is the strong suspicion that a large number of ebony objects was actually made in the late 19th or even early 20th century, while most are currently noted to date from the 17th century. Two other important outcomes were that they were not all made out of ebony, and had nearly all been tampered with, (see Hoving en Klusener).

Many of these objects appear to be (partially) comprised of older furniture parts, but some of them are altogether ‘new’. According to the aforementioned reviewer of the 1901 exhibition, an entire set of ebony furniture from the collection of Oosterhoff was newly made by Chinese craftsmen in Batavia and is appreciatively referred to as being ‘technically better made’ than earlier examples.19 A similar observation was made during conservation. This is supported by Catenius-van der Meijden, who writes in 1908 that such furniture can be bought mostly from the workshops of Chinese cabinet makers in Semarang.20 Newspaper advertisements from the Netherlands East Indies during the late 19th and early 20th centuries also suggest the existence of a large market in the copying of antiques. ‘Antique wooden benches and chairs with carving’ are offered by antique shops and cabinet makers alike,21 whilst certain contributors to newspapers complain about the number of fake antiques that flood the Indonesian market.22 There is even a bold advertisement in one newspaper, in which an ‘imitation-antiquary’ seeks ‘a wealthy companion’ to invest in a company that ‘completely copies all antique art objects in all materials. Most suited for antique dealers’.23 Although it is uncertain whether most copies were actually sold as genuine antiques, one is tempted to think that a number of them were. In fact, some of the antique markets and shops in Jakarta are still notorious for their highly questionable stock to this very day. As De Haan fittingly sums up in 1922: ‘[many ebony furniture items] were in need of repairs, had to be restored out of a wreck or be put together out of many separate parts. Because of the rising prices (…) small native, Chinese and Arabic industries emerged that repaired broken furniture, adjoined pieces and eventually ended up imitating and forging such pieces’.24 Similar observations have been made by Jaffer about ebony furniture from Ceylon.25 Seeing that many of these ‘copies’ were brought to the Netherlands in the early 20th century, this would suggest that a large portion of the Dutch museum collections is not as ancient as it is thought.

And pieces that are composed of older parts sometimes represent furniture types that never actually existed during the 17th century, but have sometimes been lauded in publications as unique examples. Some of these peculiar hybrids are discussed in more detail by Hoving and Klusener.

Key publications and exhibitions After the publication by Oosterhoff, several small articles started to appear up to the early 1930s that mention furniture from the Netherlands East Indies. Most of

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these are part of larger publications on Indonesian arts and crafts and usually only mention furniture in the margins. The first major publication that focuses solely on the subject of ebony furniture was by Van de Wall in 1939. Although in many ways flawed and wrought with strongly romanticized colonial connotations, Van de Wall’s work firmly consolidated the position of ebony furniture as part of Dutch Company history by referring to it as ‘Dutch baroque furniture from the Indies’.

The first major English work on the subject, by Brohier, focuses on Dutch colonial furniture from Ceylon and was published in 1969. In a similar way to the articles, exhibitions of East Indian furniture were generally part of larger Indonesian craft exhibitions, often held at ethnographical museums rather than museums of art.

The most notable exhibition to feature furniture from this region was ‘Wonen in de wijde wereld’, held at the Tropenmuseum in 1963 and 1964.

Long after Van de Wall’s publication, which continued to be the standard reference work on the subject for nearly 40 years, two books appeared almost simultaneously that shed new light on the subject of furniture from the Netherlands East Indies. The first was by Veenendaal, conveniently published in English, the second by Terwen-de Loos. Veenendaal provides more insights into early Dutch colonial society than Van de Wall and takes a somewhat more technical approach to categorizing the ornamentation on ebony furniture to form the basis for dating such objects. He successfully identifies several distinct types of carving, although the historical dating derived from these archetypes is certainly debatable. The work by Terwen-de Loos is more reserved and scholarly, very fitting for a subject that has so very few historic sources to draw from. Both authors also go beyond the scope of Van de Wall’s work by covering the 18th and 19th centuries in more detail and looking at European-style furniture as well.

The last major revival of the subject was in 2002 with the publication of ‘Domestic interiors at the Cape and in Batavia: 1602-1795’, by Van de Geijn-Verhoeven. The catalogue that accompanied the exhibition, held at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, discussed domestic interiors from Indonesia and Cape Town, and the section on East Indian furniture was written by Veenendaal.

Since 2002 though, furniture from the Netherlands East Indies has only occasionally been on show in small exhibitions, the most recent being ‘Indië thuis’ at the Museum Geelvinck-Hinlopen Huis in Amsterdam.26 However, exhibitions and publications have not improved the popularity of such furniture substantially.

General interest in the subject in the Netherlands is still remarkably low, as can also be seen in auction results for such items. And as all Company period rooms have disappeared from Dutch museums, we must conclude that there is little chance that popularity will rise during the coming years.

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16 th century

Upon arrival of the Dutch in East India

Actual physical remnants dating back to before the 17th century trading posts in South East Asia are very rare. Apart from several ruined Portuguese forts1 that tell us little to nothing about their occupants’ domestic lives, there is little to be found in the now larger cities of the Indonesian archipelago that reminds us of the earliest century of maritime Eurasian trade. The only documents that prove to be a valuable source of information for this scarcely detailed period are the fairly large amount of travel journals that have survived. Particularly valuable are the earliest Dutch journals from the late 16th century that sometimes give surprisingly detailed descriptions of the earliest trading posts, including insights into the daily lives of their inhabitants. One can often detect in these writings a sincere curiosity for this alien environment as well as a sometimes genuine appreciation for the cultural differences that are witnessed. Although one has to be prudent concerning certain details within these texts – sometimes descriptions seem to be based on hearsay rather than actual observation – comparing different records can lead to a fairly reliable reconstruction of what early Indonesian cities such as Bantam looked like when the Dutch arrived.

It has been generally assumed that most Indonesian societies were unfamiliar with the Western concept of furniture before the arrival of European settlers. In fact, the distinct ebony chairs and benches are commonly thought to have been the first pieces of furniture made under Dutch patronage, due to there being a general lack of seating furniture on the Indonesian archipelago until well into the 17th century. Whereas this assumption seems fairly logical and straightforward, the studying of early travel journals allows us a more nuanced view on the existence of furniture in this particular part of Asia. Although there appears to have been no tradition in South East Asia of furniture in the Western sense of the word, its native inhabitants were certainly not unfamiliar with the concept of elevated seating, as we shall see later.

The first Dutchman to record a description of the islands in South East Asia was Jan Huygensz. van Linschoten, who departed to the East from Lisbon as a member of a Portuguese fleet in 1583. Although focusing mostly on Southern Asia rather than the Indonesian archipelago, his elaborate report gives us a detailed account of ship travel, intercontinental trade and city life in some of the most

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important Portuguese trading posts. Of particular interest is his description of the craftsmen who resided in Goa, but even more importantly Ceylon – a region that seems to have been one of the sources for the remarkable appearance of ebony furniture. The first Dutch fleet to reach East India from the Cape of Good Hope was led by Cornelis de Houtman, who had received detailed instructions to ‘pertinently keep a day-to-day journal of everything you will experience, and take good notions of all the secrets of the countries and their manner of trade, to be handed over to us upon your return, including pictures, situations and [trade] opportunities of the aforementioned countries, cities, rivers and harbours that you may visit, and let them be depicted by the painter who you shall take with you’.2 The unnamed painter would most likely have been specialised in cartography. The members of De Houtman’s crew have indeed left us with a remarkably detailed report, particularly for the city of Bantam, on which they first set foot on 1st July 1595. A similarly detailed report was delivered by the admiral of the second Asia-bound fleet, Jacob Cornelisz. van Neck, by the turn of the century.

Although the works of De Houtman and Van Neck contain the most significant details regarding the cultural life of the Indonesians, there were many writing members amongst their staff. Several other – albeit generally more brief – diaries were kept by senior staff members and helmsmen that sometimes contain valuable accounts of their journey to East Asia. Gathering the observations by these pioneering explorers – as well as seeing many observations be confirmed by later travellers – gives us some insights into the early Indonesian trading posts, revealing details of their layout, architecture, interiors and the culture and customs of their inhabitants. This can all lead to a better understanding of the earliest domestic lives of the Dutch settlers.

European influence through the Portuguese Although it is well-documented that the Portuguese erected forts throughout most of Indonesia and enjoyed a monopoly as the only European traders in the region for nearly a century, questions about their actual influence on different Asian nations remain difficult to answer. This is particularly true for the Indonesian archipelago, where their presence was fairly limited when compared to Southern Asia. After their conquest of Malacca in 1511, the Portuguese struggled to gain foothold throughout the many smaller kingdoms of Indonesia, often failing to obtain trade monopolies and being on hostile terms with most Indonesian rulers due to their often aggressive approach. This continuing trouble to secure their position on the archipelago led the Portuguese to shift their interests towards China and Japan during the second half of the 16th century. The areas under major Portuguese influence were probably limited to the island of Timor and Malacca, the latter being also surrendered to the Dutch in 1641.

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While it is perhaps tempting to think that large numbers of Portuguese resided at the Indonesian trading posts, the actual number of semi-permanent settlers appears to have been surprisingly small. They are generally described in Dutch travel journals as being around a mere dozen or so, although such numbers probably refer to the number of merchants rather than the entire staff of soldiers and sailors. Also, the fact that they were in almost constant conflict with local Indonesian rulers and had continued difficulties in obtaining trade agreements, certainly did not help to improve their cultural influence in this region. Whereas the profound lingual influences through trade contacts and the intermarriage of Portuguese men and Asian women have been widely discussed, artistic influences have had little attention and are difficult to scrutinize.3 Regarding both interior decoration and elevated seating, it is doubtful whether the Portuguese had any profound influence on the region’s different societies. They were generally only very small groups of temporary visitors, focusing their activities on trade rather than housing, as the Dutch did for many years afterwards.

This was certainly not the case in Goa, the foremost Portuguese trading post in India and one that grew into their largest centre commercial centre and seat of power in Asia. Similar to Batavia in the later Netherlands East Indies, Goa became the centre of European culture in India, where the Portuguese influence was most profound. The dominating influence of the Portuguese in this western Indian city is elaborately described by Van Linschoten, who calls it ‘capital of all of India’ around 1584.4 According to Van Linschoten, most of the wealthy Portuguese in Goa actually carry out very little work themselves, instead having their slaves and servants run their businesses; an observation also made by De Houtman about the wealthy merchants of Bantam.5 He also makes specific mention of the use of furniture – particularly chairs, which appear to have been strictly limited amongst the Portuguese population. Inside their homes, the Portuguese had a large number of chairs which he calls ‘reclining chairs’. These were offered to guests upon their arrival and carried to church by their servants whenever in service.6 Servants would also carry with them leather or velvet pillows for their master to sit on.7 This form of service was also common in the formerly predominantly Hindu society of Indonesia, as we shall discuss later. Van Linschoten offers a brief description of the chairs inside the Portuguese church as ‘reclining chairs, executed with velvet and golden nails’ and also describes the presence of what appear to be prie-dieux as ‘small chairs, bench-wise with a velvet pillow upon to lay one’s arms’.8 Even the lower classes of soldiers are mentioned to each possess ‘a chair, four or five, with a table and a bed’.9 There can be little doubt that the Portuguese brought their custom of elevated seating with them to Goa. This becomes all the more clear when Van Linschoten describes the interiors of Goa’s native inhabitants, who were most probably lower class. These are ‘very empty and small, covered with straw, without any windows, with small low and narrow doors, through which one almost has to crawl on his knees to enter and exit. Their furniture consists of straw mats upon the earth [that

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serve] as their beds and sitting places; their tables, linen, table mats and napkins are made of big Indian fig leaves, which serve them not only as tables, linen and table mats, but also as dishes in which they bring their foods and conserves, which are also used in the shops of their grocers and pharmacists to wrap up all that they sell’.10 Research by Jaffer on the traditional Indian interior confirms that most native interiors continued to look very similar to Van Linschoten’s description throughout the following centuries.11 The demand for Western-style furniture in Goa – presumably mostly for the large number of Portuguese settlers – had even resulted in a small industry springing up amongst the native inhabitants. Describing the ‘black’ neighbourhoods of Goa, Van Linschoten mentions certain streets where ‘there live none other than heathens,12 who turn all sorts of bedsteads, chairs and such, and cover it very elegantly with lacquer of every colour, which is very beautiful to see’.

There also appear to have been streets that harboured a variety of native craftsmen, including coppersmiths, carpenters and wood merchants.13 Van Linschoten seems genuinely impressed with the skills of these craftsmen. However, he puts the Singhalese above all other nations in terms of quality of their craftsmanship: ‘The natives of Ceylon are very crafty and grand artists in the working of gold, silver, ivory, iron and all metals, which is a marvel to see, and which is held in very high esteem through all of India, and carries a price above that of all [the work of] other Indians’.14 Although not specifically mentioned by Van Linschoten, the Singhalese were also renowned for their level of craftsmanship in wood, particularly carving.

Similar observations on the skill of Singhalese craftsmen can already be found in the work of Tomé Pires at the beginning of the century: ‘Ceylon has good craftsmen – jewellers, blacksmiths, carpenters, and turners chiefly. The people of Ceylon are serious, well-educated’.15 The valuable testimony by Van Linschoten suggests that certain regions of India and Ceylon were already esteemed centres of wood craftsmanship during Portuguese times, even producing furniture for which there appears to have been no or little precedent before the arrival of its Western settlers. However, there are several indications to make one wonder whether this was also the case for the Portuguese trading posts in other regions of Asia, particularly those of the Indonesian archipelago. As mentioned before, the number of semi-permanent settlers at these trading posts was much smaller, making demand relatively low.

The Portuguese were also by no means the dominant foreign trading nation in this region; a position that had long been claimed by the Chinese who had been trading in South East Asia centuries before the arrival of the Europeans and had a strong cultural influence that lasted well into the 20th century. The Chinese were also among the few Asian nations that had a long standing tradition in elevated seating and quality cabinet making. Furthermore, studying early travel journals reveals no signs of there being any form of interior decoration or furniture, in a Western sense, in the description of the houses and palaces of the wealthier Indonesians. Neither do the several remarks about local crafts make any mention

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of a trade bearing close relation to cabinet making, perhaps also due to the fact that bamboo had a long-standing tradition as the primary building material, instead of wood, in this region. Loebèr already indicated that this tradition could have been a likely cause for the continued low quality of constructional woodworking by the Indonesians, which could still be seen in the early 20th century.16 If this is indeed true, it would explain why the earliest domestic inventories from Batavia mention the presence of ‘coastal furniture’, which was probably imported from the Coromandel coast due to the initial dearth of qualified craftsmen within the Indonesian archipelago to fulfil the need for furniture. As we shall discuss later, the Indonesians were rarely appreciated by the Dutch for the quality of their woodworking skills; the only exception being their purely decorative carving.

Trade interests and the dealing with foreign cultures It would not be an overstatement to suggest that the primary or perhaps only incentive for the Dutch – or in fact any other nation – to travel the risky and lengthy journey to the East was their economic interest in foreign products. The average eight-month journey was harsh and hazardous; the promise of high profits the only incentive. Finding the sea route to the Sunda Strait and negotiating trade agreements with Eastern rulers played an essential part in the rise of the Dutch republic to become one of the most prosperous and powerful nations in Europe during the 17th century. Nearly all early travel journals – as well as official Company records – revolve around subjects that could in some way benefit or impair trade interests. These include highly detailed descriptions and maps of the route to the East, dangers for which one had to prepare during the trip, the presence of refreshment stations, descriptions of all the available products in each regions, weights, currencies and of course the subject of foreign merchants.

Most early travels journals allow readers ample insight into the physical appearance, language and trading customs of the many foreign merchants that their readers might encounter during their travels. These descriptions are usually of a very general nature. For example, the Portuguese were typically considered to be sly and hypocritical, the Chinese often marked as frauds and forgers, whereas the Javanese were almost without exception seen to be thievish, unreliable, murderous and downright lazy. Similar descriptions continue to appear even well into the 20th century. Although portraying an altogether negative image of nearly all foreigners, these apparent generalisations are obviously meant to help future explorers and merchants in their dealing with the cultural diversity that one may expect to encounter upon arrival at cities such as Aceh or Bantam. They also served to prepare them for the many pitfalls of trade with foreign merchants.

One could conclude that these descriptions would lead Dutch merchants to become highly xenophobic and suspicious in their contact with foreigners. Such feelings continued to exist during the following centuries, creating an often tense

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atmosphere in early colonial societies such as Batavia. Racism was commonplace, but certainly not just amongst the Europeans.17 This atmosphere of distrust – which appears to have been mutual in many cases – was often reflected in the layout of major trading posts, which even in their earliest days showed strong signs of cultural segregation. This was also true for cities such as Bantam and Tuban, where a great number of nationalities resided in separate quarters of the city, often being appointed specific locations by the local ruler. These typically included a warehouse near the harbour to store merchandise, but also a location for them to build living quarters for the more permanent settlers of the trading post. The resulting areas were usually located outside the initial city walls to form separate quarters, which would remain a distinctive feature for most of the larger cities of Indonesia, the most obvious example being the later city of Batavia.18 De Houtman provides us with one of the earliest maps of the city of Bantam, in which the formation of several separate quarters can already be identified. He accompanies the map with a description: ‘All around, both on the mainland and along the beach are many houses,19 most of which belong to foreign nations, such as Malayans, Bengals, Gujaratans, Abexinusians, of whom there are a great many.

The Chinese have a place at the west side of the city, where the Portuguese have also resided and where we [the Dutch] were also appointed to build our homes’.20 After negotiating trade agreements with the local ruler, merchants would be able to trade freely at the city centre’s daily markets, known in Java as the Pasar.

The first step in the negotiation process typically consisted of an audience with the governor or ruler of the respective city or region, during which the host would be laden with precious gifts, of which the merchants held a large stock on their ships.

Popular gifts included textiles, glassware and silverware, but sometimes, more specifically, clocks and looking glasses. Seeing such objects described in the homes of Javanese rulers usually instantly marks them as gifts.

The city of Bantam held a market three times a day. An undoubtedly romanticised depiction of such a market, as seen through Western eyes, is printed in the report by De Houtman, (see page 19). Among the goods sold are groceries, spices, bamboo, weapons, textiles, ironwork and jewellery.21 More interesting products mentioned by De Houtman are ‘fair baskets with lacquer, fair boxes (...) and mirrors’ that are sold by Chinese merchants, as well as the ‘mat market’ where one could buy woven bamboo and rattan and presumably also the traditional Indonesian sitting mats.22 Aside from the mention of mats and Chinese boxes, which are probably small and valuable lacquered boxes, there is no specific mention of any sort of furniture being traded at the Pasar. However, when describing his visit to the Chinese quarters of Bantam, De Houtman praises the Chinese for the quality of their homes and their apparent level of native craftsmanship. This is not uncommon, as the Chinese and especially the Japanese always receive praise for their manual skills. He specifically mentions ‘fair chests [made] of tortoiseshell’ and ‘fair chairs’ out of ivory, which are ‘more esteemed than silver[ware]’.23 Chairs like these were probably part of the interiors of wealthy Chinese merchants, not to be used for trade.

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Engraving of a typical market scene in Bantam, showing merchants of different nationalities.

The city’s mosque can be seen in the background. Rouffaer en IJzerman, 1915

Early descriptions of Indonesian homes and palaces When Cornelis de Houtman first set foot on the shore of Bantam in 1595, the city was known as one of the most important centres of commerce for the Indonesian archipelago. Other major trading posts included Tuban, Malacca, Aceh, Ambon and of course its neighbouring city Jacatra (later Batavia), which would soon overtake Bantam’s position after the Dutch chose to make it their new centre of economic activity. During his stay of several months in Bantam, De Houtman recorded an elaborate description of nearly all major aspects of the city. After the Dutch had, with some difficulty, negotiated a trade agreement with the governor of Bantam, the Portuguese accused them of being pirates – the Dutch were now free to exert their trade within the city walls.24 Image 2 shows a detailed map of the city at the turn of the century.

De Houtman’s first impression of the city appears not to have been a very positive one: ‘They have in the city only three actual streets, which all lead to the court or Pacebam (...) The city is not paved, but very sandy (...), very swampy, being very dirty and smelly’.25 Van Neck is likewise unimpressed with Bantam some years later: ‘Concerning the city, it is very crudely built (...) I could not write about its actual size, for it is built in such a confusing manner (...), and full of stench and filth’.26 Both explorers describe nearly all houses in Bantam to be made out of ‘reed’ or bamboo. What they are actually describing are the traditional Indonesian homes or rumah, that still exist to this day. Being part of an ancient building tradition that can be found in different forms throughout nearly all of Indonesia, their initial impression may come closest to we might call a gazebo or beach house. Homes such as these generally rest upon a number of wooden poles or bamboo stakes that lift the house several feet above the ground. Upon these poles lies a very simple

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framework to support the walls and rooftop. Walls are made up of large sheets of split and woven bamboo, known as kepang, a technique that is still used today and is known in the West mostly by its application in garden windscreens. The gabled rooftops are generally very steep to allow for a rapid fall-off of the strong monsoon rains and are covered with palm leaves or grasses.

Houses such as these typically comprise a large, single space, but allow the use of moveable bamboo screens to create separate rooms and sections in the house. However, houses belonging to upper classes may have fitted rooms and sometimes feature several extensions beyond the main building. The height of the rooftop and the fact that the building is lifted several feet above the ground both allow for optimal ventilation in the region’s sometimes blistering heat. Their somewhat unstable impression is confirmed by the English crew member of De Houtman’s fleet, John Davis, on visiting Sumatra: ‘The houses are built eight foote or better from the ground upon posts of wood, with free passage under, the walls and coverings of [bamboo] mats, the poorest and weakest things in the world’.27 Up until the 20th century, contemporary descriptions of Indonesian homes by travellers remain virtually identical.28

Map of Bantam. Rouffaer en IJzerman, 1915

Distinctive for traditional upper class Javanese houses is a roofed pavilion in front of the house, called the pendapa, where the owner would receive guests.

The pendapa and living quarters (dalem ageng) were connected through a narrow passageway, called the pringgitan.29 Both De Houtman and Van Neck documented

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their visit to the royal court of Bantam, for which De Houtman describes the typical aforementioned layout of the Javanese home. He also describes how the rulers’ servants and guards reside on either side of the long pringgitan to allow for a barrier of protection before entering the royal quarters.30 The court buildings are described as being made out of a combination of wood, bamboo and palm leaves.

However, Van Neck describes several door portals and pillars within the royal court that are ‘neatly carved with foliage’.31 Davis adds to this that the palace of the ruler of Aceh is decorated with ‘cloth of gold, sometime with velvet and sometime damaske’.32 These textiles were most likely to have been gifts received from foreign trading nations.

On the subject of storage, De Houtman informs us of the presence of so-called ‘godongs’ in close proximity to the bamboo houses, a term later adopted by the English language as ‘godowns’. The densely built bamboo houses of Bantam and other larger cities were highly susceptible to fires, which occurred frequently.

However, De Houtman notes that he was amazed to see that most houses that were destroyed during a roaring fire in the centre of Bantam, were completely rebuilt in a matter of three or four days.33 In order to protect their valuables as well as their precious merchandise from this constant threat, the godowns were made to be fire retardant. They are described by De Houtman as small, brick and often windowless sheds with a wooden beam roof that was covered with a thick layer of sand. The godowns of Bantam are depicted in the background of an etching of the city’s governor.34 Another city that enjoyed the interest of early Dutch explorers was Tuban on the north-east coast of Java. It appears to be specifically mentioned for its apparent wealth and the splendour of the royal palace. Van Neck calls it the ‘fairest city on all of the island of Java’.35 Several explorers mention how they were welcomed to shore by the king, who would commonly be seated on an elephant and would graciously invite them to visit his extravagant – and somewhat curious – court, which was also home to a large number of horses and wild animals. However prosperous Tuban may have been during the 16th century, the city lost its importance as a major port of Java during the following centuries.

The existence of furniture during the 16th century When meeting with the juvenile ruler of Bantam, Van Neck describes being requested to sit down on a mat opposite his host, similarly seated on a mat, surrounded by several servants and councillors.36 Mentions of this common form of courtesy in Indonesia can be found in nearly all early travel journals, particularly when meeting with rulers or governors. When receiving guests, the ruler would typically sit cross-legged on his own mat, which is often described by Western observers to be nothing but a regular mat or rug. As John Davis describes: ‘Hee [the ruler of Atjeh] sitteth upon the ground crosse legges like a taylor, and so must all

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those do that be in his presence’.37 The same mats were used to sleep on as well.

And although all Dutch authors on the subject of Indonesian furniture claim that the use of seating furniture was a well-known prerogative of Indonesian noblemen, early travel journals from Java do not report any sightings of chair-seated rulers.38 There are no mentions of any form of elevated seating amongst the higher ranking Indonesians, the only exception being a remarkable description given by Jacob van Heemskerck when visiting the island of Ambon. His company was given a surprisingly warm welcome by the senior military captain of Ambon and his staff. ‘[The captain] led me towards the shadow of a large tree, where there were two chairs, he had me sit on one while he sat down on the other, and all his councillors [would sit] according to their rank; some on benches, others on mats upon the ground.’ He also mentions how a third chair is offered to the son of the ruler of Ternate, who would arrive at a later point during the meeting.39 This remarkable exception to the general rule of high-ranking Indonesians sitting on mats can probably be explained by the purpose of the meeting. Whereas the Dutch were merely interested in acquiring a warehouse for their trading activities on Ambon, the welcoming committee was particularly keen on obtaining the military support of the Dutch in their battle to expel the Portuguese from the island. Although declining the offer at this meeting, fort Ambon would later be conquered by the Dutch in 1605 and served as the Company’s headquarters for several years before the Dutch moved their centre of power to Batavia. Unfortunately, the unique description of the Ambonese meeting by Van Heemskerck contains no details about the appearance of the chairs and benches. It is most likely that these pieces of furniture were obtained during their battle with the Portuguese rather than being made by native craftsmen for the purpose of such meetings.

One may assume that the Ambonese actually attempted to create a familiar setting for their Dutch visitors by using furniture to gain their support. One finds similar descriptions throughout the following centuries, where chairs would be drawn up to appease Western visitors. Jaffer describes a similar development for India, where natives remained faithful to their country’s customs when social circumstances allowed, only using Western-style furniture for official occasions that required interaction with Europeans.40 In fact, the use of chairs and the wearing of hats – the latter strictly limited in several Indonesian societies to those of noble rank – were probably seen as Europeans’ main distinguishing features, and as an expression of social status. A common tradition throughout most of Indonesia was to honour small, carved, wooden statues that represented their makers’ ancestors. Those who were of European or Christian descent or were otherwise linked to Europeans, would portray their ancestors as sitting on a chair and wearing a pontifical hat. Several figurines of this type are now part of the collections of the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde in Leiden (page 23).

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European figurine. Yamdena. Exact dating unknown (prior to 1901).

Collection Museum Volkenkunde: 1296-59

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As well as there being a lack of chairs in Indonesia, mentions of other types of furniture are uncommon to the point of being almost non-existent. The use of high tables was probably deemed unnecessary, since the domestic lives of the Indonesians took place at ground level. But even a mention of lower tables in the form of large dishes or serving plates are nowhere to be found. As Davis describes, following a banquet with the king of Aceh: ‘Hee eateth upon the ground, without table, napkins and other linen’.41 Meals and beverages are described as simply being served in coconut shells by servants or folded in palm leaves.42 The only type of regularly described furniture is storage furniture. There are several mentions of small chests inside houses or those carried around by servants, usually containing betel. Surprisingly, the wealthy ruler of Tuban is mentioned as possessing several ‘chests and cupboards’,43 although the lack of more detailed descriptions makes it hard to imagine what these objects looked like and whether they were made locally or brought as gifts by foreign nations. Descriptions of predominantly unfurnished homes continue to appear well into the late 19th century, and the currently common use of furniture in native Indonesian homes seems to be a development that was only slowly introduced in the late 19th century.

The apparently complete dearth in Indonesia of any form of furniture in the Western sense, must have led the initial settlers to being wholly dependent on their own supply of ship furniture when they arrived in the East; this was indeed the case with the Dutch. In a passage from Jolinck’s journal, we can read how the Dutch had been offered a warehouse on Ternate, and how they brought ashore their ‘tables, chairs and other furnishings’.44 Being a somewhat lower ranking Company servant, Jolinck sometimes describes the daily activities of the ship’s crew, which are mostly overlooked by his higher ranking contemporaries. He makes a similar remark regarding their temporary settlement in Bantam, during which he and other members of the crew brought ‘pots, pans and other furnishings ashore to make a household’.45 Unfortunately, none of this furniture is known to have survived or can be recognized as part of this specific period in history. We can only guess at how it would have looked; it would probably have been inexpensive European stools and chairs.

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17th century

The age of expansion and settlement

The first Indonesia-bound fleet under De Houtman, commonly known in the Netherlands as the ‘first ship journey’, could be considered unsuccessful in many ways. The profits from the earliest trade in the East were hardly sufficient to cover initial investments, largely due to bad leadership, high mortality rates and a rather blunt foreign policy towards Asian cultures.1 However, finding a sea route to the East autonomously seemed to open a window of opportunity for Dutch investors, who would soon unite themselves within the several smaller precursors of what would later become the VOC or Dutch East India Company. Their faith would soon be rewarded by a second journey under Van Neck, who returned with four ships laden with foreign merchandise; this would be a key motivator for initiating the sending of several more fleets within the following years. The willingness to invest large sums of money in the Dutch Company and the use of long-term contracts meant that the Company had a both stable and substantially wealthy point of departure, which gave it a significant upper hand in comparison to its European competitors.2 The following decades in the East are characterized by the Dutch efforts to gain foothold in Asia’s important ports, most of which already housed smaller or larger Portuguese populations. Through clever politics, the enforcing of trade monopolies and military offenses, the Dutch had managed to become the leading European presence in South East Asia in little more than 80 years. The resulting network of trading posts, scattered along the coastlines of several Asian countries, is commonly known as the Netherlands East Indies,3 ranging from the Indian Coromandel coast to the most remote eastern islands of the Indonesian archipelago. The initial focus on the spice trade meant that the earliest Dutch efforts were aimed at the many spice producing Indonesian islands, such as Ambon, the Moluccas and the Banda island group and later expanded westwards towards the eastern coast of India to include items such as textiles, tea, porcelain and even elephants. According to one of the leading historians on the subject, Femme Gaastra, the Dutch followed a deliberate, three-tiered strategy that was suggested by Cornelis Matelieff during the first decade of the 17th century, which aimed to crush the Portuguese dominance and strengthen the Dutch presence in the region.4 The first tier was the formation of a central government and rendezvous point similar to the city of Goa, as a stronghold of Dutch power.

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The second tier would be the creation a stable ow of income for the Company by setting up an intra-Asian trading network, governed by the aforementioned rendezvous point. Third was the continuous effort to obtain and uphold trade monopolies to increase dependence on the Company, which made the Dutch go as far as committing several humanitarian, economic and ecological crimes.

The city of Bantam, which had been used as the administrative centre for the Dutch in South East Asia since the beginning of the century, proved to be unsuitable as a rendezvous point. Its neighbouring city of Jacatra or Jayakarta was considered a more strategic alternative, located as it was at the mouth of the Sunda Strait. The city was conquered by Jan Pieterszoon Coen in 1619 and would quickly grow to become the Dutch capital of South East Asia, despite being under continuous threat from both European and native cultures. Through military and political offenses, the Dutch slowly managed to increase their inuence throughout Asia, reaching an absolute peak towards the end of the 17th century, with the renamed city of Batavia as its undisputed stronghold, followed by the strategically located, cinnamon producing island of Ceylon, which the Portuguese surrendered to the Dutch in 1658.

Many of the other trading posts were staffed by a fairly limited number of Company servants to run the factories; for that reason we shall focus on the culturally dominant Batavia as an example of a European society in Asia from this point on.

As we shall discuss later, the continuously expanding city of Batavia became a showcase of excessive wealth, splendour and what were considered outrageously decadent lifestyles upheld by most of its successful Dutch inhabitants.

View of the city of Jacatra around 1608, before the Dutch conquest and erection of its distinctive fort Batavia. Rijksmuseum, inv. RP-P-OB-75.449

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The city of Batavia Work to convert the city’s existing warehouse into a fortification started one year before the conquest of Jacatra. The fort, or Castle Batavia as it was called, would later successfully protect the Dutch from several attacks on the city, which occurred frequently. The fort fronted the walled city that would be erected behind it during the following years and form the centre of Dutch activity in Asia. As it grew it added a city hall, several churches, a marketplace, orphanage and of course the seat of the Dutch High Council of India inside the castle. The wide canal that was dug around the walled city effectively created a fortified Dutch capital that was isolated from the surrounding areas; these remained an uninhabitable wilderness for several decades to come. The city could only be accessed through one of the four land gates, such as the Nieuwe Poort depicted below. For over a century, the cramped intramural city – measuring approximately 3.4 square kilometres – housed nearly all of the Dutch inhabitants who were not bound to the ships by their profession. Remaining on hostile terms with the Javanese until the third quarter of the century, the city was inhabited by Company servants, a limited number of free burghers, a large population of Chinese merchants, smaller groups of other foreign merchants and predominantly a significant population of slaves.5

Johan Nieuhof. The Nieuwe Poort of the city Batavia. 1682.

Koninklijke Bibliotheek Den Haag: 1049B13-021

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The city was split in two by the river Ciliwung, which was diverted in to a network of bridged canals, flanked by canal houses that provided a familiar Dutch city setting. The city is generally described by contemporary travellers to be very fair, and is sometimes compared favourably to Amsterdam.6 The most prestigious houses were located along the Tijgersgracht (tiger’s canal), which connected to the city hall square and the protestant church. The south-eastern corner of the city featured the so-called ‘crafts quarters’, which housed the workshops of the Company’s craftsmen and the slaves that worked there under their supervision.7 Soldiers were mostly stationed at the fort and along the rampart at the coastline.

The large number of shipwrights required for the maintenance of ships were mostly positioned at the wharfs on the coastal island of Onrust. During the first half of the 18th century, the Company employed a total of around 2,000 craftsmen, several hundred of whom worked in Batavia.8 As was noted in the previous chapter regarding the limited number of Portuguese present in the Indonesian archipelago, the number of Dutch Company servants is often similarly overestimated. Indications of staff numbers in 1625 and 1687 demonstrate a growing, but modest number of European inhabitants.9 Already the capital of the Netherlands East Indies in 1625, Batavia then housed a mere 665 Company servants, a large portion of whom always consisted of soldiers and sailors. Additionally, out of a total of 4,500 staff members scattered across the Asian trading posts, the majority of the personnel was most likely to be continuously on the move and could hardly be described as permanent settlers.

Despite the fact that a number of Batavian directors propagated the founding of a large population of Dutch free burghers possessing civil rights, the directors in patria were reluctant to loosen their firm grip on Batavian society. As such, their population remained limited and essentially continued to fall under strict Company regulations.10 Having substantially grown in the years 1687 and1688, during the peak of the Company’s power, the total number of Company servants reached around 22,000, nearly half of whom were soldiers due to increased military activity. Regarding the city of Batavia during this period, around 2,600 staff were counted, only 205 of whom were directly related to political and Company trade activities and could be seen as the Batavian elite. Another category of 490, labelled ‘other staff members’, was probably made up largely of craftsmen, of whom an even smaller number was involved in wood-related crafts. If one were to deduct the number of mixed Eurasian citizens from the total of 2,600, the number of Europeans would be even lower – somewhere around 1,500. These ratios remained roughly the same throughout the 18th century.11 One may conclude that, although they were the undisputed rulers of the city, the Europeans were essentially a minority in Batavia, which had an estimated population of over 20,000, taking in its suburbs, half of whom were slaves.12

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The Netherlands East Indies were ruled by the central government in Batavia, known as the High Council of India. At the top of the hierarchy stood the governor general, surrounded by the six councillors of India. Below lay an intricate network of officers, divided up into several sectors, including trade, military, maritime, law, health, church and educational affairs, each headed by a responsible representative of the division. All the trading posts answered to Batavia, whereas Batavia answered only to the Directory of the Company in the Netherlands. The activities of nearly all divisions were painstakingly recorded in what is now a substantial archive of the Company. The fact that communication with the homeland was slow – missives sometimes taking up to a year to arrive – and that the Company’s Indian division possessed considerable political and military power, the Council of India was essentially a highly independent government in the East.13 And since Batavia was primarily seen as the Company’s headquarters and main centre for merchandise, citizens were denied many of the political privileges that were common for similar cities in the Netherlands.14

J.W. Heydt. The meeting room of the High Council of India during the second quarter of the eighteenth century. Heydt, plate xiv, p. 37

During the course of the 17th century, Batavia continued to grow. This was not only due to an increased number of Company servants, but also, to a great extent, to a continuing migration of native Javanese, Arab, Indian, Chinese and other Asian trading nations who were drawn to Batavia’s economic climate. The cultural segregation we discussed during the previous chapter was also very much true

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for Batavia, which continued the layout of the city as being divided into more or less separate quarters as it expanded outside the city walls; several nations – mostly Indonesian – had started building quarters there known as kampongs, which were mostly segregated. As the wilderness in the surrounding ommelanden of Batavia was being cut down, and safety started to increase due to cultivation and the peace treaty with the king of Mataram, the Dutch authorities slowly started taking a governmental responsibility for the surrounding areas of the city.15 The most distinct quarters were those belonging to the Chinese, who already inhabited large areas inside the city walls and had also been hired as workmen during the founding years of the city.16 Smaller industries and crafts flourished in such suburbs, particularly under the entrepreneurial and skilled Chinese. According to the German soldier Saar, the Chinese ‘can imitate everything that the Dutch have made’.17 Valentijn adds that this included furniture and other household items.18 Several items that indicate strong signs of Chinese creation are discussed in the catalogue.

Living alongside this already broad range of cultures, two population groups are worth special mention. The Mestiezen or Mestizos was a general term for those of mixed Eurasian descent who had been raised as Christians. Being the result of mixed marriages or extramarital affairs, the Mestiezen – although officially recorded as European – were publically not recognized as Europeans and suffered from discrimination from Europeans and Asians alike. However, due to a lack of European woman in the East, the female Mestizo culture became increasingly important through their marriages with Company servants and had an enormous cultural influence on the men whom they had married and the children they raised.

Company servants were not allowed to bring their Asian or Mestizo wives and children to their homeland and would often leave them with a house and sufficient funding to support themselves, thus essentially creating a new middle class of wealthier Eurasians.19 Another notable group were the Mardijkers. These were the descendants of mostly Indian slaves who had been brought to the archipelago by the Portuguese and the Dutch, and had been freed and Christianised by their masters. Although they were also allowed to adopt European manners in public, Mardijkers were similarly looked down upon by the Europeans.

Being the economic capital of South East Asia and holding daily markets along the shop-filled streets of Batavia, city life must have been quite bustling during the 17th century. Almost every Company servant would be directly involved in either official or private trade. The famous painting by Andries Beeckman shows us several easily distinguishable people of different nations strolling along a market on the Kali Besar. A rough etching by Cornelis de Bruyn from 1662 exhibits a similarly bustling scene in the city on a street level, which shows a Dutchman buying goods from a native woman on the right-hand side of the street. On the left, one can clearly see the crowded terrace of a café, with in the background what appears to be a stage with a violin player and female dancer. These bamboo kiosks and terraces were known as kaasjes at the time and served coffee, tea and arak and frequently allowed performances and an opportunity to dance.20

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Cornelis de Bruyn. ‘Market scene.’ 1662-1690. Rijksmuseum: RP-T-1964-354(R)

Personnel, disease and death Almost throughout its entire existence, the Company was hampered by a continued shortage of qualified staff. In order to run its affairs in the East, it not only needed sailors and merchants, but also an ever increasing number of soldiers, craftsmen, government officials and medical staff. Qualified craftsmen were of the utmost importance for the Company’s activities and the number of carpenters especially is always carefully recorded in the archives. The council of India would relentlessly ask for more staff to be sent to Asia, but more importantly staff with the required skills and experience.21 Potential staff were certainly not standing in line, particularly in the wealthier Dutch cities, and they had to be attracted from more remote areas, mostly from the economically less prosperous areas of Germany. The Netherlands struggled with a stagnating population growth and the prospect of travelling to the East had become increasingly unattractive, due largely to the high mortality rates and moderate payment.22 In fact, the number of non-Dutch staff would typically be higher than the number of Dutch servants, but most of these European neighbours never got the chance to occupy some of the higher positions

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in the Company’s hierarchy.23 The Company would sometimes even resort to hiring Asian staff to meet the continued shortage.24 The monthly wages of the lower ranking Company servants remained virtually unchanged during the two centuries of the Company’s existence, being as much as 9 to 11 guilders per month. Lower officers would earn around 18 to 24 guilders a month, whilst a high-ranking captain fetched around 60 to 80 guilders.25 Even amongst the highest ranking Company officials, wages varied between 300 and 400 guilders a month, which was quite modest for its day. For lower-ranking servants in particular, wages were barely sufficient to sustain them in the often very expensive trading posts, even though many expenses were covered by the Company. In fact, potential soldiers and sailors were often tempted to sign up for the Company by hired recruiters or zielverkopers (literally: ‘soul sellers’) in the Netherlands, who would lure naïve youngsters with wonderful stories of how one could simply pick up the diamonds along the side of the road in Java. As soon as these men were brought aboard the East Indiaman, they were severely shaken by the disciplinary regime that governed the ship and forced to face the harsh reality of their choice.26 The disillusion may have been even greater on arrival, where making money would not have been as simple as it seemed. Only through largescale private trade activities could one hope to obtain the wealth one had dreamed of when signing up, being most easily accessible of course to those of high rank.

Even when leading a very thrifty life and not falling victim to illness, theft or swindle, a sailor could only hope to save several hundred guilders of his wage after a five-year contract.27 In fact, many of those who returned to the Netherlands did so empty-handed. Those who didn’t, whatever their rank, owed their wealth primarily to their private trade activities.

Travel to the East posed serious health risks for nearly all of those sailing on the East Indiamen and the death of fellow countrymen was part of the daily routine for Company servants. As is extensively documented in several travel logs, the mortality rates of Company staff during travel or shortly after arrival, could be staggering. Between 1660 and 1730, an average of 9.3 percent of staff had already died before arrival in Batavia.28 An outbreak of scurvy due to severe malnutrition was one of the most common causes of death amongst the lower-ranking Company servants on board. Whenever a member of staff died during the journey, their body would be thrown overboard after a short ceremony and their personal belongings handed over through a will or otherwise be put under the hammer.29 Upon arrival in Batavia however, mortality rates continued to rise as many Company servants – high and low ranking alike – would fall victim to a number of tropical diseases, the most common being malaria. Although death rates ranged enormously from year to year, the percentage of deceased newcomers could be as high as 70 percent within the first year of arrival.30 This was particularly true for the second quarter of the 18th century. A major malaria outbreak in Batavia from 1733 to 1738 rapidly took the lives of an enormous number of Company staff; this shall be further discussed in the following chapter. Although a small number of

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servants opted to stay in the East after the expiration of their contract, death was the most likely reason that a shocking two-thirds of the Company’s staff never saw Europe again after their departure to the East.31 After the death of one of his two head merchants, Van Neck sighs in a surprisingly personal reflection: ‘I think that those who travel from our country towards East India well deserve their payments, for they have to face the dangers of the storms and sea (...), pirates (...), the harmful disease that is scurvy (...) and the dangers involved in obtaining the friendship of its barbaric inhabitants, whose land is so unhealthy for our nation, that the majority of staff falls ill to this terrible disease, through which many have passed away (...).’32 The fear of exposure to such high risks could only be overcome by the prospect of gaining substantial wealth within a short period of time, which was likely to have been the key motivator for nearly all who signed up. The majority of those lucky few who managed to obtain such wealth and remain healthy during the five-year period of their contract were probably keen on returning to their homeland in order to live a life of leisure, and were therefore unlikely to invest large sums in expensive household furniture, other than the bare essential items.

Writing in the 18th century, Stavorinus records how Dutch homes in Batavia are ‘in general, but poorly provided with furniture’ and that ‘nothing is added that is superfluous, or more than is wanted for use’.33 A meaningful quote from David van Lennep underlines the importance of making quick money: ‘(...) to scrape together money is the principle here, in such a manner that it is openly confessed, to deny this is held to be ridiculous. Look how one argues in Batavia: “the voyage hither is long and dangerous, the climate is unhealthy and fatiguing, these sacrifices and dangers must be compensated for! Only a genius can make an honest fortune.

It would be foolish to display more consideration in behaviour and action than others, and consequently fail to reach the objectives for which we have come”. Real life proves this disgusting theory.’34 Those who met their maker during their stay in the East, generally left their physical properties to either their Asian mistresses or colleagues through a will, whereas savings would be remitted to the homeland.

In case of there not being a will, goods would be auctioned off and thus rarely left the Asian trading posts.35

The assimilation of alien customs During their stay of over three centuries in the East, it is hardly surprising that the Dutch adapted a number of Eastern customs in their interaction with foreign cultures, as did Asian cultures vice versa. It was already noted in the previous chapter how the Ambonese created a familiar setting for the Europeans by the use of chairs and benches, and similar crossings of cultural borders may be commonly observed in contemporary writings. In his journal from 1601, Roelof Roelofszoon describes attending a banquet with the king of Ternate where tables were prepared

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for his foreign guests.36 A large, probably wooden, table was provided for the higher-ranking Company servants, whereas bamboo tables had been made for servants of a lower rank. The king would sit raised at the head of the wooden table on the traditional pile of rugs and pillows, under the cover of a canopy. Similar descriptions continue to appear well into the 18th century, most notably during banquets and feasts, but never within the private quarters of the ruler, where Europeans were expected to adapt.

The above example is most illustrative of the adaptation to foreign cultures being highly dependent on the status of those involved and the social context in which such occasions take place. Many examples are given by contemporary travellers, who are generally quite keen to point out any behaviour in their fellow Europeans that deviates from European norms. Status symbols are among the most obvious examples, but also adaptations to the climate and the aforementioned indulgence of foreign guests. Mixed marriages and mutual economic dependence naturally accelerated the crossing of cultural borders.

In order to legitimize their presence and power, but also through their mixed marriages, the Dutch were quick to adapt a number of status symbols that they had witnessed from local Indonesian rulers, as the Portuguese and Chinese had done before them. The most obvious example was having the disposition over a large number of paid servants and slaves, a tradition that was already strongly rooted in Indonesian society long before the arrival of the Europeans.37 Having an extensive number of servants for even the most ridiculously speciďŹ ed tasks remained one of the most important gradients of status, such as having

After Auguste van Pers.

Raden Adi Pati, seated on a Raffles chair, wearing a remarkable combination between a European uniform and traditional Javanese sarong. Late nineteenth century. Tropenmuseum: 3728-187a

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a slave whose only function was to light the candles at night.38 During a largescale famine on the Indian continent in the 17th century, a great number of slaves was brought to Batavia from the Coromandel coast and Bengal.39 Many of them struggled to adapt to their new lives in the city with their often cruel masters.

The Dutch proved themselves keen observers of the public display of Indonesian rulers. Taking the form of a parade, the ruler would typically appear in public followed by a number of servants with specified tasks, such as the betel box bearer (kendaga), the water jug bearer (kendi), sunscreen bearer (pamajoeng), sitting mat bearer (lampit) and a number of personal guards. Many rulers also had themselves transported by palanquin rather than walking. It is surprising how quickly the Dutch adopted these customs, replacing only the sitting mat bearer with a chair and pillow bearer when going to church. Palanquins were also adopted and – although many were initially repulsed by the habit – a number of Dutch learned to enjoy betel (sirih) as well, making their smiles bright red and eventually leaving their teeth blackened. Many of them also learned to take frequent baths during the day and wear light Indian textiles.

Asian citizens similarly adopted Western status symbols. There are several images of Asian Batavians wearing distinctly European attire, and they are known to have driven coaches,40 drink wine and throw European-style dancing feasts as well. However, again such newly acquired habits would depend largely on the social context. For example, Mestizo women were known to sit on the most elegantly carved chairs in church, while preferring to sit on mats within the privacy of their homes. A similar note is made by Stavorinus when visiting the court of Bantam, the interior of which was decorated with Chinese and European furniture: ‘They sat on chairs, in the same manner as we do, although this is quite contrary to the general customs of Orientals’.41 According to Cordiner, the Singhalese similarly adopted European manners, ‘which they strive to imitate in the structure of their houses, and their furniture, and the style of their entertainments’.42 However, when it came to the display of splendour, there was no stopping the Batavians, whether they were European or Asian. So it is not surprising that discussions on a sumptuous code had already started in the 17th century (see following chapter).

Company and private trade The turnover of the Company and that of its employees is a subject that has received a great deal of scholarly attention in the Netherlands, but it is one that is difficult to scrutinize. Many Company servants were involved in shady – and largely undocumented – private trade, and this made a large number of Batavian citizens outrageously wealthy. Gaastra gives the example of Gerard Demmer, a member of India’s High Council during the middle of the 17th century. Given his monthly wage of 350 guilders, it would have been impossible for him to remit a total sum of more than 220,000 guilders to the Netherlands between 1652 and 1654, as he

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did.43 And Demmer is just one of many examples. According to Governor General Van Imhoff, Company servants commonly had more interest in their private trade activities than in those of the Company.44 All this, of course, was veiled in secrecy, yet everybody seemed to know. French traveller Tavernier characterizes these shady affairs as follows: ‘Certainly, all this must be kept secret, for if the Company would find out, everything would be lost for them, including their wages. But they have marvellous shenanigans to protect themselves (...). There is no con that they will not use’.45 Company staff were officially allowed their private trade, but only within set boundaries. Apart from their personal luggage, both higher and lower ranking servants were allowed to bring a limited amount of tax-free merchandise with them when travelling to the East. Chest sizes were prescribed by the Company and dependent on rank. They could be filled with merchandise that represented no more in value than three times the owner’s monthly wage. Although in many ways similar, a set of additional rules for bringing Eastern merchandise back home limited many items, or even forbade them as part of private trade. This of course gave way to a lot of illegal trade activities within every rank of the Company and proved to be almost impossible to eradicate. The possibilities for private trade were therefore significantly extended in 1742, when additional cargo space could be hired by paying so-called ‘recognition rights’. Certain items that were formerly forbidden could now be officially imported by paying a douceur upon arrival in the homeland. Naturally, official revenues started to rise significantly when the rules for private trade were loosened in the 1740s. In 1790,Company servants could profit from an even more liberal policy. 46 Of course, Company laws prior to 1742 didn’t offer much opportunity for substantial profit and every servant would try to find ways to outsmart the officials, often through means of fraud and bribe. And even after the introduction of the more liberal policy, Company servants would seek ways of avoiding having to pay tax. Although many attempts were undertaken to suppress private trade, Company officials were essentially powerless to combat these activities; inspectors would frequently be structurally opposed by other staff members or turn out to be as corrupt as the individuals they were supposed to inspect. Some of them would even disappear under suspicious circumstances.47 Company servants were not allowed to bring cash home. They could exchange their money in Batavia for a certificate or wisselbrief that they could exchange again upon arrival in the Netherlands at a favourable rate. Since these figures were always recorded in archives, we know that the profits made by Demmer were no exception – and so did the powerless Company directors in the Netherlands.48 East Indiamen were relatively empty when they sailed to the East, even taking building materials with them as necessary ballast. There were not many European products that Asian nations were interested in and the bulk of payments would be made in Spanish silver, which did not account for much weight or bulk. If there was a chance of sufficient profit, larger objects would be taken and these probably

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included furniture. Jaffer illustrates how skippers played an essential part in the importation of European goods to India,49 although any high-ranking servant with sufficient cargo privileges could import European items on demand and would accept orders from Europeans living in the East. These would have undoubtedly included household items. British travellers also advised their countrymen to bring furniture to India when leaving home.50 In several Dutch travel journals from the 18th century, travellers mention furniture that was aboard the ship. One notable example can be found in the dairies from the Lammens sisters, who describe the presence of chairs, benches and tables during their journey to Batavia and mention spending many hours rearranging their personal furniture inside their cabin to fight off the monotony of the trip.51 In a drawing by Jan Brandes of the interior of a ship’s surgeon’s cabin, we can clearly see a commode of European design, together with an Asian burgomaster chair (Rijksmuseum: NG-1985-7-1-4).

However, since cargo space was so precious during the intra-Asian travels and particularly the journey home,52 it would hardly make sense for private traders to bring objects home that were both large in size and comparatively low in value, such as furniture. And although free burghers were allowed to bring back household items the transportation fees for this were shockingly high.53 There was of course also the high risk of damage during the journey. This explains why complete European carriages could be taken to the East, but similarly large objects or even much smaller domestic items would hardly be sufficiently profitable to bring back to Europe, especially when compared to tea, textiles and porcelain.

Locally produced furniture would simply be sold at an auction upon repatriation (see the following chapter). So it is not surprising that little to no Eastern furniture made its way back to the Netherlands before the late 19th century, when transportation costs would be drastically lowered because of the use of steam-powered vessels, and later the opening of the Suez Canal. The only notable exception to this rule is lacquered furniture from China and Japan, most notably the latter. Lacquered furniture continued to be in high demand in Europe, and inventories from Batavia reveal that such furniture fetched prices of up to ten times that of ebony furniture.54 But even the importation of lacquer work diminished during the 18th century, because profits had fallen significantly.55 Although private trade was undoubtedly the most profitable activity, there were – of course – other means of making a little money on the side. As proper craftsmen were in short supply, those with the required skills could exert their trade outside official Company hours. Craftsmen were not only found among those who signed up as carpenters, blacksmiths or shipwrights, but also among those who were officially soldiers or sailors, as is further discussed in the following chapter.

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17th-century Dutch homes in the Indies When the Dutch became permanent settlers in the East, houses had to be built within the walls of the trading posts. Every building activity within the city walls of Batavia was strictly regulated by the Company, following a city plan that is said to have been designed by the famous Dutch scientist Simon Stevin. Houses were primarily built by Company craftsmen, who were accustomed to working in a European tradition, although Chinese workers, as well as a large number of slaves, were certainly employed for such jobs.56 As a result, the earliest settlements in the trading posts were strongly reminiscent of Dutch cities from the same period, and consequently homes were rather ill-fitted for the tropical climate. However, several alterations to the Dutch prototypes were made to accommodate for the heat. The slanted roofs – placed transversally – extended outwards to provide the facades with more shade and protection from heavy rains. Stone and tile floors were advised not only for the coolness they afforded but also because wood was susceptible to damage from insects. Walls were plastered with coral plaster to keep out some of the heat. Clay bricks, coral bricks and tiled roofs were the prescribed building materials to prevent the aforementioned fire hazard. Many of the building materials were initially imported from the Netherlands.57 These houses were largely occupied by the limited Batavian middle and upper classes, as soldiers, craftsmen and sailors were provided with separate housing by the Company close to their working areas.

Unfortunately, barely anything remains today to remind us of this particular period in Jakarta’s – or any other Asian settlement’s – history. There is nothing left from the 17th century and only one building remains from the 18th century – the Toko Merah (‘the red shop’), the former residence of Governor General Van Imhoff.

Similar buildings can be seen in the illustrations by Johan Nieuhof, published in the third quarter of the 17th century. Most buildings demonstrate the typically Dutch stepped gables, with extended roof ends to provide shade, and plastered walls to keep out the heat. Batavian citizens would typically spend a lot of their free time underneath the roof extensions in the front of their homes, called serambi,58 to smoke a pipe and enjoy a chat. These houses do not appear to feature the typical grandeur of later Batavian homes, with their enormously spacious rooms and high ceilings; they are simple and very Dutch. The layout of the rooms was also typically Dutch, with a front room, back room, hallway and a separate restroom and kitchen in the rear court, with the bedrooms on the second floor.59 Most houses did not feature glass windows due to the heat, but also because glass was quite precious in East India and was initially imported from home.60 Many houses had wooden or bamboo shutters instead. From later descriptions, we also know that the tile floors were often covered with rattan mats.

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Dutch interiors and furniture in the Indies Pictorial evidence of colonial interiors in East India is extremely scarce, being almost non-existent before the 19th century. The Company only hired professional artists for cartography and botany,61 whereas the very few artists who worked privately focused themselves primarily on (city) landscapes and portraits, such as Johannes Rach and Cornelis de Bruin. Pictures of interiors only start appearing during the second half of the 18th century; the intimate drawings of Jan Brandes probably contain the most significant information. The only tangible sources that provide us with an insight into the domestic lives of Europeans in the East during the 17th century are a limited number of inventories and contemporary descriptions. A small number of these inventories not only provides us with such insights but also gives us some valuable clues on the procuring, moving and selling of furniture. The work of Jan Veenendaal in researching Dutch inventories in the archives of Jakarta forms a most valuable basis here.62 Similar research was carried out by De Haan in the first two decades of the 20th century.

Unfortunately, the famous historian’s standard work of reference only expresses the personal interpretations of the author’s vast archival research, and he does not share his sources with us through references. A small number of inventories from the Company archives that are in the Netherlands can now be added to Veenendaal’s work, which already indicates the presence of a number of precious items belonging to wealthy merchants or members of the Company’s political elite.

While their interpretation is certainly not without its risks, inventories do provide us with virtually the only clues we have. Travel journals rarely describe the interiors of the Dutch in the East Indies, and even when they do briefly mention them, furniture is typically only described as being nothing more than ‘fair’.

Several types of seating furniture are mentioned in the inventories. These include chairs, stools, settees, church chairs and so-called ‘luijbanken’, or deep ‘lazy benches’ on which one could either sit, recline or sleep. Church chairs would have been of a folding type that was also common in the Netherlands during this period,63 being carried to service by slaves. However, general chairs are by far the most common pieces of furniture, quite often appearing in surprisingly high numbers. Additional information typically includes surface appearance and materials. Wood species include ebony, padauk, (red) sandalwood and teak.

Surface finishes include gilding, varnishing and lacquering. The universally black ebony or ebonized furniture that is seen in current museum collections conveys the image of very austere interiors, which is probably quite far from the truth, as ebony chairs typically only form part of the total collection of chairs. Lacquered furniture especially, which has survived from the 18th century, is known to be highly colourful, and the preceding century may not have been very different. In fact, traces of bright red finishes have been identified underneath the black finish of ebony type furniture during conservation, (Hoving en Klusener). Also, the specific mention of benches and chairs being made of padauk and sandalwood makes

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one suspect that the natural colours of timbers were used to decorative effect. If such objects had been ebonized, these specific timbers would have been nearly impossible to identify and this would have surely been mentioned by the surveyors, for it would have had a dramatic effect on the item’s price. Both padauk and red sandalwood can range from bright orange to deep red and they were already known during these times as very precious timbers. Rumphius even describes how sappenwood chairs would be treated with chemical dyes to create purple colour effects.64 Timber identification during the conservation process has established that only a very small portion of the Tropenmuseum’s furniture collection is made out of ebony, and has instead helped identify a number of beautiful and valued timbers for which it would have been an unspeakable shame to cover them with a – rather dull – black finish, (Hoving en Klusener). It is quite possible that many black finishes are of a later date, which would drastically alter our perception of the Dutch interiors from this period. Another often heard misconception is that colonists preferred sitting on the open rattan webbing of chairs because this offered better ‘ventilation’ in the tropical heat. In the inventories, chairs are often described as having loose pillows. A more likely explanation for the lack of fixed upholstery is the high susceptibility to insect damage, with rattan and loose upholstery being much easier to replace.65 And while none remain, one may assume that such pillows were made out of Eastern fabrics that were fashionable at the time, perhaps even Indian textiles with corresponding decorations to the carving.

A number of chairs in the inventories is specifically identified as being Chinese or Suratan. Suratan chairs are of a very typical shape, discussed in more detail

by Veenendaal, while a very early example is discussed by Carvalho.66 A small collection of these often brightly coloured, Western Indian and Pakistani chairs is also present in the Tropenmuseum (e.g.3500-182). It is not unlikely that the quote

by Van Linschoten on brightly lacquered and turned chairs in the previous chapter refers to this type of furniture. Seeing that Portuguese ships and trading posts were often plundered during their war with the Dutch, it is not surprising to detect them in inventories from the 17th century. More objects are described to be of Portuguese origin, but this is more likely to have been an indication of the previous owner than the actual origin of the item. Perhaps the most interesting descriptions of chairs are the ebony chairs that are denoted as kuststoelen or ‘coastal chairs’. The term ‘coast’ was used as a general indication of the Coromandel coast, indicating this area as the origin of this peculiar type of furniture. According to De Haan, an entire furniture industry was located at the coastal areas of India, providing other European settlements with furniture.67 Unfortunately, he again leaves us with no references. Ebony seating furniture is discussed in more detail in the following paragraph.

A number of inventories mention the presence of cabinets – mostly ebony – on stands. A very small number of ebony cabinets has been left to us today, some of

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which are even suspected to date in their entirety from the 19th century, such as the ebony cabinet from the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde in Leiden (2390-2).

The most impressive examples of ebony cabinets can be found in the Rijksmuseum (BK-1994-38, BK-1968-48) and the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag (OHO-19670001). They are typically of a very simple square shape, resembling two-door chests with elaborate hinges and lock plates, made out of solid ebony panels and decorated with floral carving. Stands are generally modelled after Dutch examples from the same period, the earliest examples having baluster-turned legs (ca. 16501675), later examples featuring spiral-turned stiles and stretchers (ca. 1675-1710).

Though not specifically mentioned in the inventories, cabinets of a more strictly European design were also produced. A truly sensational example of such a cabinet from the Tropenmuseum is discussed in the catalogue (p. 109).

Tables in the inventories are described as being square and sometimes round or octagonal. Most of these are described as being made from teak, a very durable and sturdy timber that is easily available in wider boards and is somewhat reminiscent of European oak. Some of these tables are said to have been varnished, perhaps ebonized, and there is one mention of a table with an ebony foot. From the museum collections which Hoving, Klusener and myself have visited, we have not been able to find a single table that could date from this period. Yet, there is a respectable number of tables to be seen in museum depots, all of which are the product of later reconstructions made from old furniture parts or reproductions dating from the 19th century. One of the most common alterations is the adding of a leaf to a cabinet stand, resulting in a somewhat oddly small ‘coffee’ table (Tropenmuseum: 1295-23, p. 107). Another frequently seen alteration is using the carved backs of benches as table sides and then adding new stiles and a top. (Tropenmuseum: 3097-1.) Thus, tables of the ebony type should always be perceived with the greatest caution. Due to a lack of reference, we can only guess as to what tables from this century actually looked like, but it is not unlikely that they were made after Dutch examples from the same age.

Practically all inventories have listed beds. They are described as kooijen or ledikanten, usually indicating four posters. Nearly all Dutch museums that possess an ebony furniture collection own beds such as these, the two most beautiful examples being owned by the Rijksmuseum (BK-1994-37) and the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag (OHO-1938-0003). They follow the common decorations for ebony furniture with floral carved headboards and footboards, spiral-turned stiles and rows of small spiral-turned spindles between divisions of the boards. Rattan webbing is again used to support the weight of the users.

These beds were usually auctioned together with all the textiles that belonged to them, including mattresses, pillows, sheets, bedspreads and of course the essential mosquito net or klamboe. Beds without posts would hang the net from ceiling hooks, some beautiful examples of which are preserved by the Rijksmuseum (BK1978-44).

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Other furniture types from the inventories include chests and small (sirih) boxes, guéridons or stands, writing chests, mirrors with ebony or gilded frames, folding screens made out of braided bamboo or rattan, footstools, coat racks, gun racks and clocks. Some of these items – most obviously clocks – are mentioned to be vaderlandts or from the Netherlands, indicating that furniture was actually imported at an early date. Even works by Rembrandt and Ruysdael are said to have made their way to the Indies.68 Lacquer work –especially Japanese – in the form of chests, writing chests and cabinets can also be seen quite often, as was noted in the paragraph on private trade. Other household and decorative items include paintings, engravings, martavaantjes (large earthenware pots for storing water), candlesticks, liquor cellars, backgammon boards and washing jugs. From the collections of the Rijksmuseum and the Gemeentemuseum, we know that beautiful cradles have also survived from this period (Rijksmuseum: BK-1966-48, Gemeentemuseum: OHO-1938-0004).

The inventories provide us with some insight into how the interiors of high ranking Company servants were decorated during the 17th century. One of the most important conclusions that may be drawn from these lists is that furniture and household items were procured from a wide range of sources. Furniture was brought from the Netherlands, made by local craftsmen, pillaged from the Portuguese and was also obtained through trade with India, Ceylon, Japan and China, reflecting the mercantile lifestyle of the owners. It also seems that it was still difficult for the Company elite to obtain quality furniture within the Indonesian archipelago. Still, the transportation of larger, valuable items was probably only reserved for those of higher rank, belonging to the aforementioned small elite group who remained stationed for a longer period of time. For most others though, investing in expensive furniture would have been a fairly pointless undertaking. Whenever Company servants died or repatriated, their inventory of furniture was typically auctioned among the newly arrived elite, who appeared in desperate need of household items upon arrival and would pay fair prices for it. It is often noted in later centuries that furniture would continue to fetch high prices on the second-hand market, indicating that there was always a scarcity of household items.69 After the arrival of new furniture from the more remote trading posts, it would generally remain in important Company posts such as Batavia, to be sold again and again until it was ultimately discarded or lost to damage by the climate or by insects. Of course, only the objects that were made out of the sturdiest materials had any chance of survival into the current century – particularly true for wooden and textile objects.

Ebony furniture: its origins, decorations and value Perhaps one of the most puzzling characteristics of furniture of the ebony type, is that the ornamentation is stylistically very consistent making it very difficult to distinguish different forms of style and execution. And even when one is able to

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recognize different groups, such as Veenendaal has demonstrated, the lack of any form of historic reference makes it very difficult to determine an object’s age or origin. Indeed, furniture of the ebony type is almost always dated as being from the second half of the 17th century in major Dutch collections, even though many copies were made during the 19th and even 20th century in an identical style; other objects appear on closer inspection to be assembled from several older parts. A great many of such items were identified during the Tropenmuseum’s conservation project. As Hoving and Klusener demonstrate, such alterations are not always so difficult to detect when approaching such furniture from a technical point of view.

Still, a number of objects remain that appear unaltered and genuine. While technical characteristics definitely help us to identify both altered and newer objects, they rarely assist us in dating or localizing objects that have passed all the critical tests. One has to resort again to studying the carving as the only point of reference. A very true and important remark made by Veenendaal and Van Campen & Hartkamp-Jonxis, is that the style of carving on ebony furniture seems to have been catering to European demand rather than being of purely Asian origin. Indeed, the presence of this particular type of decoration appears to be reserved for objects that were owned by Europeans; most particularly the Dutch.

One finds similar ornamentation in silverware and textiles that was designated for European buyers, and as such represents a style that is neither purely European nor Asian; it is not found in the Indo-Chinese or native Javanese arts and crafts, where floral carving often takes on a very different form. The application of decorations of a more European design seems to have first occurred on textiles from the Coromandel coast (so-called ‘sitsen’), which were amongst the first Asian items of craft that were deliberately adopted for the European market.70 Before the arrival of the more distinct European styles of the 18th century, this particular type of ornamentation seems to have dominated the Eastern crafts of the 17th century that produced items for a European clientele. Having continued production on the very same basis in the 19th century, dating objects with such decorations is most difficult. There are however, a number of different types within these decorations that can be tied to certain periods and regions, as we shall discuss below.

Contrary to what is commonly thought, ebony does not occur abundantly in South East Asia, but is limited to several specific habitats. Whereas ebony was initially imported to the Netherlands from South Africa and more specifically the island of Mauritius, the timber was later found to be growing in Asia as well. The Portuguese are known to have already possessed ebony furniture during the early 17th century in India, the most likely source of the material being the eastern coast of India and the island of Ceylon, where ebony had long been known to occur naturally. It would therefore make sense if this region was a source of ebony furniture as well. According to the well-known botanist Rumphius,who recorded his findings in 1641, ebony was found to be growing on the Moluccas as well, and since then was harvested by the Dutch.71 This seems to be confirmed by the archives, where the first mention of a shipload of Moluccan ebony wood aboard the

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ship Oostcappel dates from 1644.72 Whatever the sources for ebony furniture may have been, it is clear that ebony was not readily available in Java and the material had to be imported from other areas of the Netherlands East Indies.

Three centres of production for ebony furniture have been identified. The supposedly oldest centre of production is the Coromandel coast, where the florally decorated sitsen were produced and from where furniture was exported to the Indonesian archipelago under the name ‘coastal furniture’. Both Thomas Bowrey and Rumphius refer to ebony furniture being made at trading posts such as Masulipatam.73 Furniture that is characteristic for this region is quite rare in Dutch museum collections, the only notable example being a chair owned by the Rijksmuseum (BK-1976-79). Several chairs from the region are discussed in more detail by Jaffer, all of which demonstrate a wider range of skills than their Batavian and Singhalese counterparts, including ivory inlays, pierced carving and more frequently the occurrence of figurative carving; such carving can also be found on Singhalese furniture, though never quite as abundantly, being mostly limited to the top of the rear stiles. Ornaments include human and animal figures, as well as a number of mythical beasts that draw from Hindu mythology.74 Furniture from the coast and Ceylon are also much more likely to be made out of actual ebony, rather than the many ebonized timbers that we find amongst Indonesian examples.

The second centre of production is the island of Ceylon, where the Dutch officially settled in 1658. The shift in focus towards Ceylon probably meant that the island gradually gained importance as a centre for crafts at the expense of the Coromandel coast. It would eventually closely follow Batavia in terms of economic importance and number of European settlers. As the Singhalese were renowned for their level of craftsmanship, the island would also be a likely location for the start-up of a small furniture industry for Europeans, as many travellers would visit the island during their journeys. The Singhalese version of ebony furniture is very distinct from both the Coromandel coast and Indonesia in style and execution, and can be quite easily recognized owing to its low-relief carving. A small number of Singhalese cabinets and settees are owned by Dutch museums. However, the majority of items consists of single chairs. Certain chairs demonstrate a distinct evolution of style, which closely follows the development of Dutch chair types from the same period. This can be best observed in the shape of the legs and stretchers rather than the ornamentation, much like the aforementioned cabinet stands.

A very early set that originates from either the coast or Ceylon is owned by the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag (OHO-1938-0009 1 and 2). The Tropenmuseum owns a number of Singhalese chairs from a slightly later period that already incorporate spiral turning that is missing from the earliest examples. Like the Coromandel coast, Singhalese carving is likely to include figurative carving, but its execution of the floral carving is in a much lower relief and promotes a sense of horror vacui. It is most probably these chairs that are described in an inventory as having ‘small flowers’.75 A good example of furniture of this type can be found in the Tropenmuseum (p. 103). Other distinctive features of Singhalese ebony

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furniture include the use of double spiral turning, simple scraped grooves as ornamentation and the overall slender dimensions of parts. All Singhalese chairs in the Tropenmuseum have an unusually low seating height. This has led to these chairs being called ‘children’s chairs’, ‘women’s chairs’ or ‘circumcision chairs’, but the conservation project has shown that these were once higher chairs that were lowered at a later stage. They were never meant to be this low, which again demonstrates how much such alterations may distort our views.

One also notices in Singhalese chairs that figurative carving gradually disappears altogether from the ornamentation, becoming virtually non-existent in later Batavian examples. The sudden absence of human and animal motives has been explained by the growing influence of the Islam in South East Asia, but this is not a very likely explanation.76 Other branches of crafts have demonstrated that Indonesian artisans remained very faithful to their Hindu heritage. It is perhaps more likely that the predominantly protestant Dutch buyers were not very fond of such ‘heathen’ imagery, which they often describe in travel journals with a simultaneously curious and intimidated undertone.

The third centre of production lay in the Indonesian archipelago. Since there were very few trading posts in this area during the 17th century with a sufficiently high European population to justify a larger scale production, most objects from this area are thought to have been made in Batavia, although one certainly cannot exclude posts such as Ambon and Makassar. The Batavian style of ebony furniture closely follows the familiar design of imported furniture from the coast,77 but is typically more bulky in appearance, featuring thicker stiles and rails with the seats of chairs often being broader than their examples. The style of carving is also more deeply cut and much bulkier in character, demonstrating very bold and fleshy floral ornamentation. Execution may vary from quite soft and smooth to a rather crudely cut finish, the latter being a likely indication of the object being made in later times.78 ‘Ebony’ furniture from Batavia also appears less likely to be made out of genuine ebony, being commonly dyed black or dark brown. Furniture of this type is without doubt the largest group of ebony furniture currently owned by Dutch museums.

However this is where our identification methods meet with a dead end. If the decoration is sharply executed and there are no traces of modern production methods or alterations – of which there are very few examples – ebony furniture items are thought to date roughly from the third quarter of the 17th century.

Attempts to come up with a more specified locality or date suffer from a lack of tangible references. While one may be able to detect a number of types within the decoration patterns as has been suggested by Veenendaal, there is simply too much overflow in these designs and too few historic sources upon which one can justify a more accurate attribution. The fact that a number of items that have hitherto been hailed as very early examples now appear to be relatively new or drastically altered, makes this all the more clear.

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When looking at the inventories of wealthier Dutchmen, particularly the few that have listed prices, one can safely draw the conclusion that ebony furniture was relatively expensive. Timber had a substantial influence on the object’s value, and ebony was the most highly priced species. When we look at the inventory of Jan Janszoon Menie from 1648, the selling price of 51 reals for his ebony bed (including hangings) is quite steep, being nearly as much as a golden, pearlencrusted tiara or his pregnant female slave.79 Also, the price is considerably higher than a gilded bed with its hangings, which only fetched 28 reals. One can conclude from the inventories that furniture in general, but ebony furniture in particular was estimated at a fair price, much higher than varnished examples.

When keeping in mind that a regular soldier or sailor earned a monthly wage of around 10 guilders, whereas the ship’s captain earned as much as up to 80 guilders a month, this would still require the captain to pay more than two months’ wages for a bed such as the one owned by Menie. One can therefore fairly safely conclude that the possession of luxury, ebony furniture was likely to have been reserved only for those of higher rank. And as we discussed earlier, the number of servants in Batavia who might have invested in expensive furniture would have been limited, due to its price and the uncertain lifestyles of its owners. We’ve also noticed that furniture was a much coveted item in the second-hand market, continually being resold and bought by repatriates and newcomers. So ebony furniture was probably less common and more valuable in the 17th century than was previously thought.

This also supports the strong suspicion that a large portion of the currently known ebony furniture in museum collections was made at a later date; a suspicion that has been amplified by the findings during the conservation and was already suggested by De Haan in 1922: ‘The well [of original 17th-century furniture in native homes] has long dried up. (...) In general one may assume that virtually everything is now in the hands of Europeans and one must be most prudent when such items are offered by the natives or Chinese.’80

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