In Search of Japanese Lacquer
Japanese lacquer was internationally known and cherished. The Dutch traders capitalized on this popularity by exporting lacquerware, not only to Europe, but also to other Asian countries. Dutch trade records reveal how export lacquer was made according to various specifications. Cynthia Viallé's research goes a long way in showing that seemingly boring VOC archives provide valuable data for the study of East Asian material culture.
By CYNTHIA VIALLÉ
'Lackwerck, lackwerckers, coffers, cantooren, comptoiren, cabinetten, kisten, tachterowans, beteldoosen, schrijffladen, schilden, katels, bandesen'. Searching through the records of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) my eyes zoom in on these words in all their different spellings and on any other word referring to Japanese lacquer and related topics. The search is fascinating. It takes me from Holland to Japan and all over Asia. The records cover a period of two-and-a-half centuries, from the beginning of the seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century. Along the way, patterns of trade in this luxury article are unfolding, revealing themselves to be influenced not only by economic factors and political events, but also by changes in diplomatic relations and fashions. Differences and similarities between cultures and the struggle for power and influence become apparent.Within the VOC's trade with Japan, lacquerware was only a minor commodity. The Company's export trade with Japan revolved around silver, gold, copper and camphor. The spread of these commodities was limited to specific markets and even if around today Japan can no longer be pinpointed as the origin of these products, Japanese lacquerware, conversely, is easily identifiable and its distribution was world wide. Moreover, many pieces have survived the wear and tear and the passage of time.
The merits of Japanese lacquerware were widely acknowledged. A well-made object was beautiful. It was also relatively expensive. This was due to several factors: it was not a mass-produced article; it was made to order; specialized craftsmen (lakwerkers in Dutch) were employed; the process of manufacture was time consuming; the raw lacquer sap which was applied in layers was not cheap; and costly materials such as gold and silver were used to decorate it. These factors had their bearing on the ordering, manufacturing and distributing of pieces for the foreign markets. Moreover, because of the Japanese government's policy of exclusion, it was impossible for interested parties, whether in Europe or in Asia, to acquire these items directly from the producers. They had to be ordered either through the Dutch merchants of the VOC or through the Chinese merchants who also had access to Japan.
For these reasons, Japanese lacquerware was considered eminently suitable for diplomatic gifts. It was often used as such by the directors of the VOC in the Netherlands, the Governor-General and the Councillors of the Indies in Batavia when friendly relations with foreign rulers had to be established or maintained, or favourable trading conditions had to be secured. Thus, we read about royal visits to the Netherlands, on which occasions coffers or cabinets were presented to the royal guests. We travel along on diplomatic visits to the Mughal Courts, carrying tachterowans (takht-(i)-rawan, palanquins), katels (bedsteads), betelboxes, schrijffladen (writingboxes), and other objects made to order in Japanese lacquer. We learn about the special demands of the Siamese kings and of government officials along the Coromandel Coast and in Bengal, whose favours had to be retained in the interests of the Company's trade. We also learn about the uses of specific objects within a culture and about changes in fashion that affected form and embellishment. We see that consideration was given to religious concerns: objects made for the Muslim regions of India were not to be decorated with human figures or pigs, for these were unacceptable in those places.
The results of my search will be presented in my doctoral thesis which should be finished by the end of this year. All the documentary evidence will be provided. I hope it will stimulate others, especially in Asia where the major part of the trade in Japanese lacquerware took place and where many pieces must still be around somewhere, to engage in still other exciting searches for objects! *
Cynthia Viallé is Researcher at the Institute for the History of European Expansion, Leiden University, and the editor of the English edition of the Deshima Dagregisters (the official diaries of the Dutch chief factors in Japan) published by this institute.
E-mail: c.r.m.k.l.vialle@let.leidenuniv.nl