Navigating through Asian waters: Comparative study of 17th- and 18th-century porcelain trade in Manila, the Philippines and Banten, Indonesia from an archaeological perspective

Summary

The trade networks in 17th- and 18th-century Southeast Asia are often reconstructed by using European historical sources. As a result, Southeast Asia is frequently portrayed as a way station between Europe and China. However, the comparative study presented here between Ayuntamiento the Spanish government site in Manila, the Philippines and indigenous palace sites in Banten, Java, Indonesia under Dutch indirect rule suggests a far more complex picture and challenges the traditional understanding of the Euro-Asian porcelain trade as well as the Eurocentric power relationships in early modern Asia. The results of our study unveil the strong presence of Chinese merchants’ activities among the regional maritime networks. A sizable amount of Japanese trade porcelain found in Ayuntamiento suggests that the privilege bestowed to the Dutch as the sole Western trading partner in Japan was effectively violated by trade through Chinese merchants particularly via Formosa (Taiwan). Moreover, the distinct porcelain distribution patterns between the two indigenous palaces in Banten suggest the dynamic agency of the locals and help fill the gap in an under-documented aspect of Euro-Asian porcelain trade.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• The Archaeology of Global History

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 13280