Four centuries of the VOC - Report from Europe - exhibits The Dutch Encounter with Asia 1600-1950, The Hare Anti the Moon: Arita Porcelain in Japan, 1620-1820 - Brief Article

Magazine Antiques, Oct, 2002 by Miriam Kramer

The Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC), or Dutch East India Company, was founded in 1602 as an amalgam of a number of competing trading companies It marked the beginning of great economic and cultural growth in the Netherlands, as the Dutch fully exploited the trade in tea, coffee, pepper and other spices, and commodities such as exotic woods and rubber. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the company occupied large sections of Asia. At the end of the eighteenth century, the government took over its remaining colonies and the company was dissolved.

The governors of the Dutch colonies lived like kings. They had slaves and servants and many luxuries. Their entourages included not only administrators and diplomats but also soldiers, artists, scientists, and financiers.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is mounting two exhibitions to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the Dutch East India Company. The main one, entitled The Dutch Encounter with Asia 1600-1950, is on view from October 10 until February 9, 2003. It is sponsored by the financial firm Achmea, and the curator is Kees Zandvliet, who also edited the Dutch and English catalogues, published by the museum and Waanders and available by telephoning 31-20-6747352.

A parallel exhibition, The Hare anti the Moon: Arita Porcelain in Japan, 1620-1820 examines Japanese porcelain made for the domestic market. Some two hundred dishes and bowls from the Shibata Collection of the Kyushu Ceramic Museum in Arita are on display from October 5 until January 5, 2003. The show has been made possible in part by a grant from the Japan Foundation.