The Dutch East India Company (VOC, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie) arrived on the island of Java, in present day Indonesia, in the early 17^th century to establish trading posts. The port of Bantam on the Western side of Java, became the initial centre of trade. In 1619 the VOC conquered Jakarta on the north of West Java and renamed the city Batavia establishing their main headquarters there.

The views on our plates record places connected with the VOC’s time in Batavia, most of which are after drawings by Johannes Rach, a Danish painter and draughtsman, who joined the VOC in 1762 in a military capacity while at the same time making topographical drawings.

Each plate is carefully inscribed in black in a cursive script on the reverse.

Het Eyland de Kuyper and Het Eyland Onrust

These islands are part of the so-called Thousand Islands in the bay of Batavia where the Dutch built dockyards and warehouses.

Het Huis welte Vreede von Vorentezien

The country house Weltevreden outside Batavia (Jakarta) was built by Governor-General Jacob Mossel in 1761.  It was later bought by Governor-General van der Parra. On the plate is an image of the front of the house. The drawing below shows wings built on the central section of the house which are not shown on our plate.

Gezigt van ‘t Lusthuis van den Heer Generael op de weg van Jakatra

According to the text on the drawing by Johannes Rach this was another view of the country house Weltevreden presumably seen from the back.

Gezigt van de Groote Fontein op Buitenzorg

Buitenzorg (present day Bogor) is located in a mountainous area in West Java about 54 km south of Jakarta. The Governor General, Willem Gustav van Imhoff, built a summer residence there in 1745 due to the milder climate. The name means ‘without worries’ or ‘Sanssouci’. Today the building is the palace of the president of the Republic of Indonesia.

De Stad Batavia

The view is of the city of Batavia is taken from the top half of a print in Nieuhof’s Het gezantschap der Neêrlandtsche Oost-Indische Compagnie, aan den grooten Tartarischen Cham, den tegenwoordigen keizer van China, p. 55

In 1800 the VOC trading posts were nationalised after its bankruptcy in 1799 and the territory comprising most modern-day Indonesia became a Dutch colony known as the Dutch East Indies.

The complete service, consisting of more than 435 pieces was presented to the Stadholder William V by the VOC, of which he had been chief governor from 1766. It was the most ambitious Meissen service of the latter part of the 18^th century and the first to have been decorated with topographical views (Prospekte). It is thought that William himself was involved in their selection as he had a great interest in topographical drawings and prints (den Blauwen p. 25).

William V was the last hereditary Stadholder of the Dutch Republic and took the service with him when he went into exile in England on 18 January 1795. He had to sell the service before leaving England for Germany in 1801. In October 1823 it was auctioned as part of the collection of William Beckford, split across four lots, and listed as ‘A matchless and extensive dinner and desert service of the rare OLD DRESDEN PORCELANE, elaborately enamelled in views of all the principal sea- ports and towns of Holland, painted expressly for the PRINCE of ORANGE […]’. All four lots were acquired by F. Hodges for a total of more than 336 pounds. In December 1868 the entire service came up for auction again this time at Christie’s in London and was split into 75 lots.

Kaendler mentions in October 1772 a big lion on top of a tureen from a service for the Stadholder of Holland, William V, presented by the Ostindiansche Compagnie. Another letter written in September 1772 by Carl Schonheit refers to the lion.[i]

A large part of the service has been reassembled and is held by the Palace of Het Loo in the Netherlands. The provenance of these six plates reflects the turbulent history of Europe since their time of manufacture. Our six plates were listed by Den Blauwen when in a private collection in Amsterdam, see p. 59, nos 235 to 240

Condition:
Slight rubbing, no restoration

Provenance:
Stadholder Willem V, Prince of Orange and Nassau (1748-1806), The Netherlands;

William Beckford (1760-1844), Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire, his sale, listed in the Oak and Tapestry Dining Parlour, The Unique and Splendid Effects of Fonthill Abbey, Phillips, 1 October 1823 (Seventeenth Day) lots 762-765

Acquired from the above sale by F. Hodges, 16 Cavendish Square, London

Henry G. Bohn (1796-1884)

Sale, Christie’s London, 19 December 1868, lots 564-638

Herbert M. Gutmann (1879-1942), Berlin

His forced sale, Paul Graupe, Berlin, 12-14 April 1934, lot 357 (part)

A Silesian Collection

Their sale, Stuttgart, F. Nagel, 12 October 1962, lot 85 d-f

Private collection, The Netherlands

Thence by descent

By whom restituted to the heirs of Herbert M. Gutmann in 2024

Sotheby’s, Cologne, 5 December 2024, lot 1086

References:

Den Blauwen 1993
L. den Blaauwen, Het Meissen servies van Stadhouder Willem V, (Paleis Het Loo, 1993)

Nieuhof 1665
Johannes Nieuhof, Het gezantschap der Neêrlandtsche Oost-Indische Compagnie, aan den grooten Tartarischen Cham, den tegenwoordigen keizer van China, (Amsterdam, Jacob van Meurs, 1665)
https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/gezantschapdern00nieu

———————————————————————————————————————————–

[i] Den Blauwen pp. 17 & 19.

 

Price: £12,000 each