Introduction

The Princessehof Museum houses a world-famous collection of Asian ceramics. In the collection emphasis is given to Chinese and Japanese ceramics made for export to two regions: one extended from Southeast Asia, Ceylon, and India to the Middle East, maritime trade starting here in the Song dynasty (960-1279). The other went across the Indian ocean, along the African coast via the Atlantic to Europe, commencing in the early 16th century. Though in shape and in decoration they generally followed Chinese art tradition, ceramics made for export were adjusted to the needs and tastes of the areas they were destined for. For this study ceramics made for either of the above mentioned regions have been selected. These wares date from the mid 15th to the late 17th century, a period in which Chinese ceramics were more advanced than in any other part of the world and porcelains were made in large quantities and predominantly for the export.
As Japan played a major role in the porcelain trade from the mid 17th century onwards, ceramics that clarify this role will also be discussed. The collection of Japanese ceramics in the museum provides a representative overview of these wares.

The collection of Asian ceramics has been shaped by the interest of Nanne Ottema (1874-1955). This notary, founder and first honorary director of the museum was a passionate collector of Chinese porcelain. In collecting Ottema did not look with an aesthetic, nor with an economic eye. He was interested in the opportunities for research that a new object provided and the local cultural aspects involved. He never went to the East himself, instead he built up his collection with the aid of friends residing in or visiting those far-off places or bought from dealers. He held close contact with Minke de Visser who at the same time built up a collection of Oriental ceramics in the Groninger Museum and whose knowledge he held in high esteem.

Ottema collected also in areas that were not yet a focus of attention as, for instance, the coarse porcelains of the Zhangzhou (Swatow) kilns. In 1910 he acquired the collection of martavans, heirloom- and excavated ceramics of Anne Tjibbes van der Meulen (1862-1934) and in 1926 the collection Zhangzhou wares amassed by Reinier Verbeek (1841-1926) a mining engineer in Indonesia. In the latter part of the 19th century Verbeek had bought these heirloom ceramics from the locals in order to preserve a collection of this type of export ware characteristic of rural regions. The collection of Zhangzhou ceramics in the Princessehof is the most important one in the world. Ottema was also one of the first to recognize the significance of Japanese export porcelain, in his time considered little refined in comparison with Chinese wares. Moreover, he developed an eye for Vietnamese and Thai ceramics, then virtually unknown in the Netherlands.
Ottema s Handboek Chineesche Ceramiek, Manual of Chinese Ceramics, the first overview of the history of Oriental Ceramics to appear in Dutch, was published in 1943.

The ceramics chosen for this study have been described in eight chapters. Each chapter comprises an introductory essay followed by catalogue entries. In the essays attention is also given to the conditions which the Chinese government imposed upon its ceramic industry and the political climate which affected the passage of the products in trade.

Chapter I deals with the reinstalling of the old Chinese tribute system by emperor Hongwu and the reversal of the Mongol politics of free foreign trade, a repressive measure inciting smuggling, the revival of foreign trade but under governmental control in the reign periods of the succeeding emperors and the arrival of the Portuguese in the area.

In Chapter II the role of the Portuguese in the China trade is discussed, the Spanish competition with the Portuguese, the role of American silver from the silver mines in Mexico and Peru as the favourite medium of international exchange, and the annexation of Portugal by Spain..

Chapter III focuses the attention on the trade between China and Southeast Asia and one specific group of Chinese wares made for that region, the Zhangzhou porcelains..

Chapter IV describes the arrival of the Dutch in the Far East and the trade in Kraak porcelains by the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

Chapter V deals with the chaotic trade conditions at the collapse of the Ming dynasty and the wares produced in this period, commonly called Transitional.

Chapter VI deals with the competitive porcelain industry in Japan that developed during this time of upheaval when the Chinese kilns were unable to deliver their wares to the Dutch.

Chapter VII focuses on the rebel movement during the reign of the first Qing emperors, the destruction and rebuilding of Jingdezhen and the take-over of the porcelain trade with the West by the Chinese again.

Chapter VIII, finally, discusses a ware with a specific shape: the Kendi, made both in China and Japan exclusively for the export.