Exotic or Familiar? : Exploring the Multi-directionality of Cultural Influence of Asian Porcelain in the late 17th- early 19th-century Dutch sites in Banten, Indonesia

Summary

This paper explores the roles of Chinese and Japanese porcelain excavated at the Dutch East India Company forts built in the Sultanate of Banten, Java, Indonesia and raises the questions of how to interpret Asian porcelain in European-related sites in Asia. The paper pays particular attention to the multi-directionality of cross-cultural influence and the assumed exoticness of Asian porcelain to European consumers. In 1596, the first Dutch expedition in the East Indies went to the Sultanate of Banten in search of a pepper-trading partner. Eventually, the Dutch colonized the indigenous population through indirect rule at the beginning of the 19th-century. Dutch material culture in Banten, however, remained largely Asian, including Chinese porcelain in this early stage of colonialism: the Dutch used Asian porcelain extensively, rather than importing European ware. Were the Dutch in Banten fascinated with exoticness of Asian porcelain, or were they already familiar with Asian ceramics in the Netherlands before arriving in the East Indies? For the purpose of interpreting archaeological records more finely, this paper suggests the importance of understanding the evolving and dynamic nature of Asian porcelain to 17th -19th-century consumers and its place in this increasingly connected world on a global scale.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Multi-Directional Colonialism: Approaches to Studying Global Interactions

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