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An Indian part-gilt silver-clad ceremonial sceptre or mace with a tiger’s head
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Northern India or Deccan, late 19th century L. approx. 82 cm (excl. stand) Provenance: Private collection, United Kingdom This remarkable gilt-silver soonta (ceremonial sceptre) also known as choba (ceremonial mace) with a tiger's head stands out as an unparalleled example. It has a wooden base, clad with thick sheet part-gilt silver and has fine details such as teeth and a curling tongue. Especially with the inlaid glass eyes, in combination with the grand sculptural design, it would have been integral to an Indian maharaja’s attire, known as lawajama in North India and biruthus in South India, as referenced by Jackson & Jaffer. They would symbolise authority, power, and sometimes an attribute of various deities, particularly those associated with strength or combat. For instance, the Hindu god Hanuman, known for his immense strength, is often depicted holding a mace (*chob* or gada in Sanskrit). Similarly, the god Vishnu and his avatar Krishna are also frequently depicted with a mace among their other attributes. Courtiers would raise these sceptres wrapped in rich brocades, with the head visible, during processions, signalling their association with the monarch. Alongside fly-whisks and standards, they were indispensable in ceremonial parades, underscoring the ruler's prestige. Terlinden notes that a soonta berdar was tasked with carrying the sceptre. These individuals, proficient in courtly manners, played key roles during audiences, from managing entrances to introducing guests. Their esteemed position often earned them generous rewards, including land grants. See for a depiction of sceptres in use the top right of a painting in the collection of the V&A, titled Processional scene with Amar Singh, ruler of Thanjavur (Tanjore), and Sarabhoji, from circa 1797. For a very comparable piece, but with an elephant’s head, see the collection of the Indian Museum, Kolkata. For other less similar examples, see the V&A Museum London. Sources: A. Jackson & A. Jaffer, Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts, London, V&A Publishing, 1999 Christiane Terlinden Serra, Mughal Silver...
Category

Antique Late 19th Century Indian Metalwork

Materials

Silver

A pair of Spanish-colonial Viceregal mother-of-pearl inlaid bureau-cabinets
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Viceroyalty of Peru, Lima, 18th century, circa 1720-1760 Each with a moulded giltwood cornice and on a foliate carved giltwood base, possibly later and English. The cabinets, with s...
Category

Antique 18th Century Peruvian Spanish Colonial Cabinets

Materials

Mother-of-Pearl, Teak

A Dutch colonial ebony box with silver mounts
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Batavia (Jakarta), or Sri Lanka, circa 1680-1720 The document or money box is densely carved with fine scrolling vines and lotus flowers. It has a charming heart- shapes silver lock...
Category

Antique Late 17th Century Indonesian Dutch Colonial Antiquities

Materials

Silver

A small Dutch colonial Indonesian tortoiseshell betel box with gold mounts
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Jakarta (Batavia), 18th century, apparently unmarked L. 14 x W. 9.5 x H. 4.7 cm Before settling down to business in the former Dutch East Indies, sirih had to be offered in the mos...
Category

Antique Late 18th Century Indonesian Dutch Colonial Antiquities

Materials

Gold

An extremely rare, possibly unique, Sri Lankan ebony child's armchair
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Probably Sri Lanka, 2nd half 17th century H. 55 x W. 40.5 x D. 40.5 cm Seat height 27.5 cm The chair is overall densely carved with a scrolling flower motif on four connected turne...
Category

Antique Late 17th Century Indonesian Dutch Colonial Furniture

Materials

Ebony

A large Dutch colonial ebony cabinet with brass mounts
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Dutch colonial ebony cabinet with brass mounts on contemporary black steel frame Batavia (Jakarta), 2nd half 17th century The cabinet has two ...
Category

Antique Mid-17th Century Indonesian Dutch Colonial Antiquities

Materials

Brass

A rare Japanese Namban export lacquer coffer with Mon emblems
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Late Momoyama period, late 16th century The coffer is decorated in black lacquer, urushi, on cedar wood, decorated with gold dust and silver, maki-e, and nashiji, mother-of-pearl, r...
Category

Antique 16th Century Japanese Lacquer

Materials

Silver, Copper

A Chinese export reverse-glass painting after an English print in original frame
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Canton, late 18th century In original hardwood frame with ruyi-shaped metal mount for suspension. H. 38.7 x W. 44.3 cm (incl. frame) H. 31.8 x W. 37.5 cm (image) Chinese reverse glass paintings for export are known since mid 18th century. By the 1780's the copying of European, mainly English, engravings came into vogue in Chinese paintings on glass...
Category

Antique Late 18th Century Chinese Chinese Export Paintings and Screens

Materials

Glass, Hardwood

A 17th century Dutch-colonial ebony two-door VOC cabinet with silver mounts
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Dutch-colonial ebony two-door cabinet with silver mounts Coromandel Coast, probably Masulipatnam, circa 1650-1680, the silver later H. 64.5 x W. 75 x D. 46 cm The present cabinet...
Category

Antique 17th Century Indian Dutch Colonial Antiquities

Materials

Silver

A rare Indonesian tortoiseshell sirih casket with gold mounts
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Batavia (Jakarta), 19th century, apparently unmarked H. 5 x W. 18 x D. 13 cm Before settling down to business in the former Dutch East Indies, sirih had to be offered in the most e...
Category

Antique 19th Century Indonesian Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Gold

A Nias 'Adu Zatua' wooden ancestor sculpture
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Indonesia, Nias, 19th century H. 37.5 x W. 10 cm Sculptures like the one present are not only decorative items but are believed to be vessels that house the spirits of ancestors and are used to communicate with them. After the death of a person a wooden image or Adu Zatua was made to mediate between the human world and the spiritual realm. These kinds of figures were commissioned by noble Nias families, whereas simple and lesser quality carvings generally were found among lower class families. In this particularly fine example, the sculptor has paid careful attention to the proportions of the different parts of the body, dividing it into three main sections – the head, the torso, and the legs. The shapes are sometimes flat, round, or have notches, but all are perfectly in balance creating a certain divine tranquillity. This Adua Zatua’s ears are decorated with earrings, and it is wearing a headdress, pointing towards a chiefly provenance. In 1914 the Dutch gained complete control of the island of Nias and started spreading Protestant Christianity. Many ancestor statues...
Category

Antique 19th Century Indonesian Tribal Art

Materials

Wood

A Japanese Nagasaki-e print depicting the arrival of Dutch ships in Nagasaki
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Published by Bunkindõ han, circa 1801 Colour woodblock print, H. 32.5 x W. 48 cm Under this view of Nagasaki Bay, the text states that the first Dutch ships arrived in Nagasaki in ...
Category

Antique 18th Century Japanese Prints

Materials

Paper

A Chinese huanghuali, wumu and mother-of-pearl watch holder
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Canton, 2nd half 19th century H. 22.5 x W. 30 x D. 12.5 cm The pocket watch, an antique Swiss triple calendar Moon phace pocket watch in gunmetal case, dating from around 1860-1900...
Category

Antique 19th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture

Materials

Wood

A Japanese export lacquer box with depiction of the Grand Hotel, Yokohama
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Meiji period, circa 1873-1887 The black lacquered box decorated in maki-e and hiramaki-e gold, with on the lid a European style building complex and several Japanese and European figures walking along a street in the foreground. The sides are finely decorated with several insects and the inside with several compartments and nashiji decoration. H. 7.4 x W. 29 x D. 25.7 cm After the Americans forced Japan to open their harbours to the outside world and take part in international treaty and trade around the mid 19th century, the formerly feudal society rapidly changed. Japan was now focussing on an industrial future. One of the major international ports was Yokohama with its foreign embassies and warehouses - which attracted a great number of visitors of all sorts. For the higher society visiting Japan for the first time a new and ‘Western’ hotel had to be realised; hence the construction of The Grand Hotel on Kaigandori. The hotel was opened on August 16, 1873 (Meiji 6) and was soon considered the height of Western culture and elegance in Japan. The building probably depicted on this box, designed by American architect Richard P. Bridgens (リチャード・ブリジェンス, 1819 -1891), is the original hotel...
Category

Antique 19th Century Japanese Lacquer

Materials

Gold

A fine Dutch 18th-century oak and amboyna bureau cabinet with mirror doors
Located in Amsterdam, NL
The Hague, circa 1760 Oak, veneered with amboyna root, brass fittings with lacquer gilding. H: 242 cm. , W: 120 cm. , D: 62 cm. Provenance: Private collection Germany The bureau cabinet is a piece of furniture that has become very popular in the Netherlands since the early 18th century. This example was made around 1760. The single curved base cabinet...
Category

Antique 18th Century Dutch Baroque Cabinets

Materials

Brass

A Superb Dutch 18th-century Rococo cabinet atributted to Matthijs Franses
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Dutch rococo cabinet atributted to Matthijs Franses, in the style of Abraham Roentgen The Hague, circa 1765 266 high, 193 wide and 70 cm deep Oak an...
Category

Antique 18th Century Dutch Rococo Cabinets

Materials

Brass

An Indian miniature painting depicting a prince surprising bathing maidens
Located in Amsterdam, NL
India, Punjab, circa 1755 Signed by the artist Swami 'Ram Rikh' of Seopur and dated Samvat 1812 (1755) Opaque watercolour and gold on paper, H. 23.8 x W. 16.2 cm (image) H. 28.3 x ...
Category

Antique 18th Century Indian Paintings and Screens

Materials

Gold

A charming Taxidermy Gharial (Gavialis Gangeticus)
Located in Amsterdam, NL
19th century   The animal with the remarkable long snout lined with spikey teeth, with a nice overall dark patina of age.   L. 105 cm Provenance: Private collection, United Kingdom
Category

Antique 19th Century English Taxidermy

Materials

Animal Skin

A Chinese 'European subject' reverse glass painting after an English print
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Canton, late 18th century In original hardwood frame with ruyi-shaped metal mount for suspension. H. 38.7 x W. 44.3 cm (incl. frame) H. 31.8 x W. 37.5 cm (image) Chinese reverse glass paintings for export are known since mid 18th century. By the 1780's the copying of European, mainly English, engravings came into vogue in Chinese paintings on glass...
Category

Antique Late 18th Century Chinese Paintings

Materials

Glass

An Indian colonial tortoiseshell veneered teak portable two-door cabinet
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Mughal India, Gujarat, 2nd half 17th century H. 22.4 x W. 30.3 x D. 26.8 cm This small cabinet has six drawers behind two doors. Originally ordered by the Portuguese, and made afte...
Category

Antique 17th Century Indian Antiquities

Materials

Tortoise Shell, Teak

A large stoneware Chinese Cizhou-type Martaban storage jar
Located in Amsterdam, NL
China, Hebei province, Ming dynasty, dated 1596 H. 68 x Diam. 42 cm The vase decorated with foliate motif and characters around the shoulder that are supposed to indicate the plac...
Category

Antique 16th Century Chinese Ceramics

Materials

Stoneware

A Dutch-colonial Sri Lankan nedun wood and Indian padouk miniature chiffonier
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Apart from being a highly decorative object and a status symbol, these miniature pieces of furniture also functioned as collector’s items. Just like the dollhouses were for rich wome...
Category

Antique 18th Century Sri Lankan Dutch Colonial Furniture

Materials

Silver

18th century Dutch oak and mahogany corner cabinet with gilded bronze fittings
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Corner cabinet, The Hague circa 1775 Dimensions: 270 cm high, 132 cm wide, and 72 cm deep. Oak core veneered with mahogany, gilded bronze fittings. Provenance: Passed down from gener...
Category

Antique Mid-18th Century Dutch Cabinets

Materials

Bronze

A fine Dutch Commode attr. to the workshop of Matthijs Horrix, circa 1770-1780
By Matthijs Horrix
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Chest of drawers attributed to the workshop of Matthijs Horrix, circa 1770-1780 Dimensions: 82 cm high, 115 cm wide, and 52 cm deep. Oak core veneered with rosewood and palm wood marquetry, topped with a white Carrara marble slab, gilded bronze fittings. Provenance: Private collection, Wallonia, Belgium This chest of drawers was almost certainly made in the workshop of Matthijs Horrix in The Hague. Horrix, originally from Germany, settled in The Hague in the 1760s, where he specialized in making furniture in the French style. His workshop was probably the most important in the third quarter of the 18th century in the court city and was well known far beyond the city limits. A large number of pieces of furniture have been preserved that can be attributed to this workshop, including several in royal possession...
Category

Antique 18th Century Dutch Commodes and Chests of Drawers

Materials

Carrara Marble, Bronze

A magnificent Dutch marquetry cabinet on stand, by Jan van Mekeren (1658-1733)
By Jan van Mekeren
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A magnificent Dutch marquetry cabinet on stand, by Jan van Mekeren (1658-1733) possibly made for William III and Mary of England Amst...
Category

Antique 17th Century Dutch Antiquities

Materials

Kingwood, Oak, Walnut, Holly

Highly Important Dutch Floral Marquetry Cabinet by Jan van Mekeren, circa 1700
By Jan van Mekeren
Located in Amsterdam, NL
The Van Mekeren cabinet: A Newly Discovered Pinnacle by the Master of Marquetry The highly important Dutch marquetry Van Mekeren cabinet Amsterdam, circa 1700, by Jan van Mekeren...
Category

Antique Late 17th Century Dutch Cabinets

Materials

Wood, Hardwood, Fruitwood, Kingwood, Nutwood, Oak, Pearwood, Tulipwood

A set of three exquisite nineteenth century Japanese bronze sculptures of carp
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Three exquisite Japanese nineteenth-century bronze sculptures of carp. The sculptures are in excellent state. The set contains three different carp: A large one, a medium-sized one ...
Category

Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures and Carvings

Materials

Bronze

A superb Japanese giltwood sculpture of Kannon Bosatzu
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Japanese giltwood sculpture of Kannon Bosatzu Japan, Edo period, Early 19th century H. 50 X W. 58.3 cm Provenance: - The Somerwil Collection of ...
Category

Antique Early 19th Century Japanese Edo Sculptures and Carvings

Materials

Giltwood

A large taxidermy Southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius)
Located in Amsterdam, NL
The Netherlands, 21st century, died of natural cause in a European zoo H. 141 cm Endemic to North-east Australia and Papua-Guinea, the Cassowary is regarded as the most dangerous b...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Taxidermy

Materials

Animal Skin

Magificent Dutch 'Daniel Marot' Baroque Walnut Burr Cabinet on Stand, circa 1720
By Daniel Marot
Located in Amsterdam, NL
The Marot cabinet A Magnificent Walnut Burr Cabinet on stand or 'kruisvoetkabinet' in the style of Daniel Marot Circa 1720, probably made for George Clifford III in Amsterdam or the Hague The cabinet is one of the rarest examples of a so-called Kruisvoetkabinet, which is translated to Cabinet on stand. The cabinet is raised on a stand with eight legs and tree drawers. Below the drawers and on the sides are five carved ornaments. The hollow formed corners are mounted with carved ornaments too. The upper part of the cabinet has two doors decorated with panels and on each door two carved ornaments in Marot style. The cabinet has a double dome top.The interior of the cabinet has tree shelves and five drawers. The brass fittings and handles are original and finished with gilt lacquer. The cabinet is made of oak and veneered with burr walnut. The carvings, turned parts and the ball feet are made of solid walnut. This cabinet is a unique piece of Dutch furniture. Cabinets on stand became popular in the third quarter of the 17th century and were made until the second quarter of the 18th century. Most of the dutch cabinets on stand...
Category

Antique Early 18th Century Dutch Louis XIV Cabinets

Materials

Oak, Walnut

Traditional Ashanti African Chief’s velvet and gilt-wood Leopard crown on stand
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A traditional Ashanti Chief’s velvet and giltwood Leopard crown Ghana, early 20th century Diam. 17 cm (crown) H. 27 cm (incl. stand) Provenance: Private collection, Paris The s...
Category

Early 20th Century Ghanaian Antiquities

Materials

Velvet, Giltwood

Ashanti African Chief’s ceremonial gold and gilt-metal crown and sash on stand
Located in Amsterdam, NL
An Ashanti Chief’s ceremonial gold and gilt-metal crown and sash Ghana, early 20th century Diam. 20 cm (crown) L. 128 cm (sash) H. 102 cm (incl. stand) Provenance: Private coll...
Category

Early 20th Century Ghanaian Art Nouveau Tribal Art

Materials

Gold, Gold Plate, Metallic Thread

17th century colonial Sinhalese ebony two-door cabinet with silver mounts
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A splendid Dutch-colonial Sinhalese ebony two-door cabinet with silver mounts Sri Lanka, Kandy, 2nd half 17th century, the mounts later The cabinet with a central drawer with hidde...
Category

Antique 17th Century Sri Lankan Dutch Colonial Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Silver

18th century Dutch-Colonial ‘Vizagapatam’ pen-engraved bone inlaid ebony box
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A large Indian Colonial ‘Vizagapatam’ pen-engraved bone inlaid ebony box Masulipatnam or Vizagapatam, 2nd half 18th century H. 10.8 x W. 47 x D. 34 cm ...
Category

Antique Late 18th Century Indian Dutch Colonial More Asian Art, Objects ...

Materials

Bone, Ebony

A Dutch-colonial Sri Lankan coromandel wood miniature chest of drawers
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Dutch-colonial Sri Lankan coromandel wood miniature chest of drawers with silver mounts Sri Lanka, 18th century, circa 1750 H. 35 x W. 48 x D....
Category

Antique 18th Century Sri Lankan Dutch Colonial Furniture

Materials

Silver

Dutch-colonial five-foot 18th century amboyna wood VOC chest with brass mounts
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Dutch-colonial five-foot amboyna wood VOC chest with brass mounts Batavia (Jakarta) or Sri Lanka, 18th century H. 80.5 (including bun-feet) x W. 153 x D. 64.5 cm The many moves from post to post undertaken by VOC officials in the course of their careers made the chest an indispensable item of furniture in every household and for transport. But to avoid overloading sailing ships with chests of all sizes and forms the Heeren XVII adopted a great number of resolutions regulating the form and seizes of the chests and the number each VOC official was allowed to take. On his repatriation, the Governor General was allowed eighteen large chests, a member of the Council of India ten, a minister of religion two and a carpenter, boatswain, cook’s mate only one smaller chest, about three-quarter the size of the largest chest...
Category

Antique 18th Century Sri Lankan Dutch Colonial Blanket Chests

Materials

Brass

Charming carved gilt-wood Chinese export mirror frame watch-stand with Europeans
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A charming carved giltwood Chinese export mirror frame with a watch-stand Canton, Qing Dynasty, early 19th century H. 65 x W. 34.5 cm At the top of the frame, two angels are suppo...
Category

Antique 19th Century Chinese Qing Wall Mirrors

Materials

Giltwood

Dutch-Colonial Sri Lankan Coromandel Wood Document Box with Silver Mounts
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Dutch-colonial Sri Lankan coromandel wood document box with silver mounts Probably Galle, 18th century H. 19 x W. 49 x D. 33 cm The ches...
Category

Antique 18th Century Sri Lankan Dutch Colonial Furniture

Materials

Silver

Pair of Fine Islamic Silver Filigree Rosewater Sprinklers, Early 18th Century
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A pair of very fine silver filigree rosewater sprinklers Possibly India, Karimnagar, early 18th century Height 31.6 cm and 31.7 cm, weight 39...
Category

Antique Early 18th Century Indian Islamic Metalwork

Materials

Silver

Royal Indonesian Buginese Gold and Buffalo Horn Badek Dagger
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Royal Indonesian Buginese gold and buffalo horn badek dagger Indonesia, Sulawesi, 1st half 18th century L. 54 cm ? The solid gold scabbard is inscribed with a magic square,...
Category

Antique Mid-18th Century Indonesian Antiquities

Materials

Gold

18th Century Chinese Export Lacquer Chinoiserie Bureau Desk for the Dutch Market
Located in Amsterdam, NL
An extremely rare, possibly unique, Chinese export lacquer bureau for the Dutch market Canton, circa 1737 H. 118 x W. 102.5 x D. 63 cm Provenance: - Private collection, The Netherlands - J.K. Driessen Antiques, Arnhem (Art Fair Breda, 1989) - Noble collection, Belgium Literature: - C.J.A. Jörg, ’De handel van de V.O.C. in Oosters lakwerk in de 18de eeuw’ in: Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek , Jr. 31 (1980), pp. 355-363 (ill.) - Annigje Hofstede, Nederlandse meubelen van Barok tot Biedermeier, 1700-1830, Waanders, Zwolle 2004, pp. 35-37 (ill.) This lacquer bureau is one of the four writing desks purchased in Canton in 1737, and as far as is known, this is the only remaining bureau of its type from the period. As the VOC believed that large pieces of import took up too much valuable space in their trading ships...
Category

Antique Mid-18th Century Chinese Chinese Export Lacquer

Materials

Wood, Cypress, Lacquer

Fine Mughal Painting of a ‘Lion at Rest’, North India, Early 19th Century
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Mughal painting of a ‘Lion at rest’ North India, early 19th century ? Watercolour on paper, H. 46.5 x W. 68 cm ?The present painting is a large...
Category

Antique Early 19th Century Indian Paintings and Screens

Materials

Paper

Splendid and Heavy Late 17th Century Dutch-Colonial Silver Filigree Salver
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A splendid and heavy Dutch-colonial silver filigree salver Indonesia, Batavia (Jakarta) or possibly Padang, West Sumatra, 2nd half 17th century Diam. 22.9 cm Weight 551 grams This filigree-work was probably done by Chinese masters...
Category

Antique 17th Century Indonesian Dutch Colonial Metalwork

Materials

Silver

Superb Late 16th Century Signed Colonial Japanese Namban Export Lacquer Coffer
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Superb late 16th century signed colonial Japanese Namban export lacquer coffer Momoyama period, late 16th/early 17th century, inscribed 'Arisato' on the bottom H. 30.5 x W. 43...
Category

Antique 16th Century Japanese Lacquer

Materials

Cedar, Lacquer

Rare Chinese Export Porcelain Voc Dish
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Chinese export porcelain VOC (Dutch East India Company) dish Canton, Yongzheng period, circa 1730 Diam. 23 cm Executed in rose-pink, ...
Category

Antique 18th Century Chinese Chinese Export Ceramics

Materials

Porcelain

17th Century Japanese Export Lacquer Cabinet with Depiction the Dutch Tradepost
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A highly important Japanese export lacquer cabinet with depiction of the Dutch East India Company tradepost Deshima and the annual Dutch delegation on its way to the Shogun in Edo Edo period, circa 1660-1680 H. 88 x W. 100.5 x D. 54 cm This cabinet includes a later European japanned stand, but also a modern powder-coated steel frame. The latter can be designed and added to your specific needs. The sides and front of the rectangular two-door cabinet are embellished in gold and silver hiramaki-e and takamaki-e on a black roiro lacquer ground with a continuous design. The two doors depict a long procession of numerous figures travelling on foot and horseback along buildings and a pagoda into a mountainous landscape. This is the annual court journey, Hofreis, of the Dutch from Nagasaki to the Shogun’s court in Edo. Three horseback riders are dressed as Dutch merchants and a fourth figure, probably het Opperhoofd, is seen inside a palanquin, norimon. Just about to cross the bridge, two men are carrying a cabinet like the present one. Many Japanese figures on either side of the procession are engaged in various activities; some play musical instruments on board of small boats, others are fishing; figures inside buildings are depicted playing go, and farmers are tending to their rice paddocks. The upper part of the right door shows a large mansion, probably the local daimyo’s castle, with men kneeling before a man in the central courtyard. The court journey fits in with the foreign policy of the shogunate which accorded a role to the VOC alongside China, Korea, and the Ryukyu Islands who also had to pay tribute. However, the VOC employees were traders, having low status in Japan’s social hierarchy, and they were received with less deference than were the state embassies from Korea and the Ryukyu Islands. Nevertheless, the contacts with the Dutch were a welcome source of information to the Shogun about Europe and European science and technology. The left side of the cabinet depicts, in mirror image, a rare view of the artificial fan-shaped Deshima Island, the trading post for the Dutch in Japan. The island, where the Dutch flag flies, is surrounded by small Japanese boats and an anchored three-masted fluyt (cargo ship), flying Dutch flags, with on the stern the VOC monogram. On the bottom right a busy street of Nagasaki is shown, bordered by shops and leading up to the stone bridge. On the island the trees are beautifully painted, two cows can be seen, and the flagpole, all in very fine detail. Dutchmen and enslaved Malay are visible outside the buildings and two Japanese figures, probably guards, sit in a small hut in the centre. A maximum of fifteen to twenty Dutchmen lived on the island at any time and soldiers or women were not allowed. Restrictions on Deshima were tight, and the merchants were only allowed to leave the island by special permission. The Opperhoofd had to be replaced every year, and each new Opperhoofd had to make a court journey to pay tribute, present gifts, and to obtain permission to Margaret Barclay eep on trading. In the distance, many birds fly above the hills and a four-story pagoda can be seen. The right side of the cabinet is painted with other horse riders and their retinue journeying through mountains. The pair of doors to the front open to reveal ten rectangular drawers. The drawers are decorated with scenes of birds in flight and landscapes with trees and plants. The reverse of the left door with two thatched buildings, one with a ladder, underneath a camelia tree with large blooms; the right door with a three-story pagoda nestled among trees and both doors with a flying phoenix, ho-oo bird. The cabinet, with elaborately engraved gilt copper mounts, hinges, lock plates and brass handles, is raised on an 18th-century English japanned wood stand. A pair of large cabinets...
Category

Antique 17th Century Japanese Edo Lacquer

Materials

Copper, Gold

Dutch-Colonial 18th Century Small Children's or Ladies Bureau with Silver Mounts
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Dutch-colonial Indonesian small Albizia adoratissima, Nangka and Ambalo wood Lady’s tambour bureau with silver mounts Batavia (Jakarta) or Palembang, late 18th century H. 129.5 x W. 70 x D. 39 cm The tambour desk or bureau a` cilindre came into fashion in the Dutch East Indies of the late 18th century, when French forms prevailed in the Netherlands. The carvings on the apron and the stiles on the sides and at the top of the central stile are typical Indonesian designs. This small piece of furniture is not a miniature but was probably used as a regular bureau-cabinet by colonial society women of Indonesian-European descent. They usually are smaller than European women and often didn’t use chairs but sat or kneeled, and even slept on the floor for coolness. Earlier that century Dutch-colonial Indonesian and Cape Dutch...
Category

Antique 18th Century Indonesian Dutch Colonial Children's Furniture

Materials

Wood

Huge 3D Sculpture of a Chinese Temple Mountain Made of Paint by Secunda
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Piers Secunda (b. 1976) A huge 3d sculpture made of carved out white paint Title: ‘Painting of a Wuhan Mountain’ Sculpted industrial floor paint, H. 144 x W. 68 x D. 44 cm Piers Secunda has been making objects out of commercial floor paint for 25 years, rejecting the limitations of ‘painting’ imposed by the canvas. In the tradition of his studio practice the present Wuhan Mountain is made of commercial floor paint; hence the title ‘Painting of a Wuhan Mountain’. On a journey to China he was inspired by the fine ivory carvings produced in Canton, but also by the Wuhan landscape and its famous mountain temples. Scholars from the earliest Chinese dynasties...
Category

2010s British Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Paint

Rare 17th Century Japanese Export Lacquer Medical Instrument Box
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A rare Japanese export lacquer medical instrument box Edo-period, 1650-1700 L. 19 x W. 6 x H. 8.5 cm This unconventionally shaped lacquer b...
Category

Antique 17th Century Japanese Edo Lacquer

Materials

Gold

Japanese Nagasaki Export Lacquer Box with Depiction of the 'Trippenhuis'
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Japanese Nagasaki export lacquer box with mother-of-pearl depiction of the Amsterdam ‘Trippenhuis’ Edo-period, circa 1830 H. 12.5 x W. 24 x D. 15 cm ? The house depicted on t...
Category

Antique 19th Century Japanese Edo Lacquer

Materials

Mother-of-Pearl, Lacquer

Japanese Export Nagasaki Lacquer Box with the Portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Japanese export Nagasaki lacquer tobacco box with the portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte Edo-period, circa 1810 The box in black lacquer on copper, ...
Category

Antique 19th Century Japanese Edo Lacquer

Materials

Copper, Gold

Mother-of-Pearl Black Lacquer Japanese Export Table with Feet Shaped as Bats
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Japanese export lacquer tripod table with feet shaped as bats Nagasaki, 1850-1860 H. 73 x diam. 108 cm The six-lobbed top is decorated with reverse-painted mother-of-pearl in a sprawling motif of plum blossom, bamboo, and peonies, surrounded by fluttering sparrows enhanced by details in maki-e. The table, made to appeal to a foreign audience, incorporates a curious mixture of seasonal references. In addition to the decoration of foliage from late winter and spring, the column is decorated with grapes and a rabbit pounding rice, both Japanese motifs for autumn and the month of September. The feet, shaped like bats that almost appear to wake up from hibernation, symbolise luck and happiness in Japan. The present flamboyant Nagasaki-style table is depicted in the Asada workshop drawings of 1856. These drawings, titled Aogai makie hiinagata hikae (memorandum of designs for lacquer with inlaid pearl...
Category

Antique 19th Century Japanese Lacquer

Materials

Lacquer

Splendid Indo-Portuguese Colonial Sculpture of Nagini from Goa, 17th Century
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A fine Indo-Portuguese inlaid teak wood figure of Nagini India, Goa, 17th century Measure: H. 55 cm (with stand, and with ring for wall hanging) The sculpture can be perceived as such but probably is one of four legs of an Indo-Portuguese contador...
Category

Antique 17th Century Indian Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Ebony, Teak

16th-Century Indo-Portuguese Colonial Mother-of-pearl Gujarat Casket
Located in Amsterdam, NL
An exceptional Indo-Portuguese colonial mother-of-pearl veneered casket with silver mounts India, Gujarat, 2nd half of the 16th century, the silver mounts Goa or probably Lisbon Measures: H. 16 x W. 24.6 x D. 16.1 cm An exceptional Gujarati casket with a rectangular box and truncated pyramidal lid (with slopes on each side and a flat top) made from exotic wood, probably teak (Tectona grandis), covered with a mother-of-pearl mosaic. The tesserae, cut from the shell of the green turban sea snail (Turbo marmoratus, a marine gastropod) in the shape of fish scales, are pinned to the wooden structure with silver ball-headed nails. The casket is set on bracket feet on the corners. The masterfully engraved decoration of the silver mounts follows the most refined and erudite Mannerist repertoire of rinceaux and ferroneries dating from the mid-16th century. The high quality and refinement of the silver mounts and, likewise, the silver nails that replaced the original brass pins used to hold the mother-of-pearl tesserae in place indicate the work of a silversmith probably working in Lisbon in the second half of the 16th century. The Indian origin of this production, namely from Cambay (Khambhat) and Surat in the present state of Gujarat in north India, is, as for the last three decades, consensual and fully demonstrated, not only by documentary and literary evidence - such as descriptions, travelogues and contemporary archival documentation - but also by the survival in situ of 16th-century wooden structures covered in mother-of-pearl tesserae. A fine example is a canopy decorating the tomb (dargah) of the Sufi saint, Sheik Salim Chisti (1478-1572) in Fatehpur Sikri in Agra district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, north India. This is an artistic production, geometric in character and Islamic in nature, where usually the mother-of-pearl tesserae form complex designs of fish scales or, similar to the dishes also made using the same technique, with the thin brass sheets and pins, stylized lotus flowers. The truncated pyramidal shape corresponds, like their contemporary tortoiseshell counterparts also made in Gujarat, to a piece of furniture used in the Indian subcontinent within the Islamic world prior to the arrival of the first Portuguese. This shape, in fact, is very old and peculiar to East-Asian caskets, chests or boxes used to contain and protect Buddhist texts, the sutras. A similar chest is the famous and large reliquary chest from Lisbon cathedral that once contained the relics of the city's patron saint, Saint Vincent. Both match in shape, having the same kind of socle or pedestal and bracket feet, and in their engraved silver mountings, featuring the same type of refined, erudite decoration. Their differences lie in the silver borders that frame the entire length of the edges of the chest (both the box and the lid), pinned with silver nails, and on the lock plate, shaped like a coat of arms in the Lisbon example. Given the exceptional dimensions of the reliquary casket...
Category

Antique 16th Century Indian Jewelry Boxes

Materials

Silver

Unpei Kameyama, 'a View of Black 'American' Ships in the Bay of Uraga Senminato'
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Unpei Kameyama (1821-1899) A view of black (American) ships in the bay of Uraga Senminato, Miura district, June 1853 The Japanese text reads: ‘The seventy-six old men for the Kitamura-clan, drawn in 1897 on request of Yoshisada Kitamura, Himeji, the black ships which so much changed the fate of Japan, enjoy please this masterpiece by Harima Shonin Bisei who brings back memories of his young days.’ Watercolour on paper, laid down on cardboard, H. 44.5 x W. 115.5 cm Provenance: Collection of Yoshisada Kitamura, Himeji Yoshisada Kitamura (1838-1899), the son of a farmer in the village of Ogawa, in the district of Harimakashikihigashi, studied under Matajiro Otaka and got heavily involved in the anti-Shogunate movement. He was active in several military incidents against the Shogunate. After the Meiji restoration, he served the Meiji government as a local official in the Himeji domain. Kameyama Unpei was a Confucian scholar, a Shinto priest...
Category

Antique Mid-19th Century Japanese Edo Paintings and Screens

Materials

Paper

Chinese Export Porcelain Dish with Dutch Decoration of a Voc Ship
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Chinese export porcelain dish with Dutch decoration of a VOC ship Circa 1700-1710, the Dutch decoration circa 1720-1730 Diam. 21.5 cm ? Originally left white, this Chinese ...
Category

Antique Early 18th Century Chinese Chinese Export Ceramics

Materials

Porcelain

Two 18th Century Lacquered Wood Chinese Yoke-Back Chairs, Chinoiserie Chique
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A pair of lacquered wood northern Chinese yoke-back chairs, Guan mao shi Hebei Province, Qing Dynasty, early 18th century Measures: H. 99.5 x W. 61 x D. 49 cm ?The back spla...
Category

Antique Early 18th Century Chinese Qing Furniture

Materials

Wood

Marvelous High-Quality Taxidermy Red Patas or Hussar Monkey
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A taxidermy red patas or hussar monkey (Erythrocebus patas) Mid 20th century, including CITES H. approx. 40 cm Provenance: Private collection, the Netherlands The patas monkey lives in multi-female groups...
Category

Mid-20th Century Dutch Taxidermy

Materials

Animal Skin

Peranakan Djati Wood Miniature Bed for an Anak Ambar, a Miscarried Fetus
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Peranakan djati wood miniature bed for an Anak Ambar, a miscarried fetus Indonesia, Peranakan Chinese, late 19th century Measures: H. 41 x L...
Category

Antique Late 19th Century Indonesian Furniture

Materials

Wood

Balinese Polychrome and Gilt Wood Sculpture of a Winged Lion
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Balinese polychrome and gilt wood sculpture of a winged lion, Singa Bersayap Northeast Bali, Singaraja, Buleleng Regency, circa 1900-1930 H...
Category

Early 20th Century Balinese Sculptures and Carvings

Materials

Wood

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