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Oriental Ceramics at the Cape of Good Hope 1652-1795

Oriental Ceramics at the Cape of Good Hope 1652-1795, An account of the porcelain trade of the Dutch East India Company

C.S. Woodward

This is the first book on its field, and fills a gap which all collectors of Africana, as well as those interested in ceramics for their own sake, have long been aware.

The book contains a summary of the ceramic trade of the Dutch East India Company with particular reference to the Cape; a description of the kinds of ceramic trade of the Dutch East India Company with particular reference to the Cape; a description of the kinds of ceramics sent there from Batavia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; and, through a study of the inventories of deceased estates in the Cape Archives, an account of their surprisingly early importance in the social life of the Colony. A thought-provoking chapter surveys the strengths and weaknesses of South African collections and discusses the role of museum, auctioneers and dealer in the life of the collector. In addition there is a major section on all the various ceramics with the V.O.C. monogram, which includes material from museums in other countries, particularly Holland, and takes account of the continued use of the monogram in the nineteenth century on the well-known Delft tobacco (more correctly snuff) jars. Oriental martavans, and Chinese porcelain enamelled at Canton with subjects of special interest to South Africans - the arms of Cape families and the Dutch fleet in Table Bay - are also examined in detail. This book is fully illustrated with photographs from South African public and private collections and, in the case of the V.O.C. section, overseas museums as well; there are a number of line-drawings and text figures done by the author.

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