Enquiry about object: 9965
Chinese or Batavian Parcel-Gilt Silver Filigree & Enamel Needle Case
Southern China or Dutch East Indies 18th century
length: 10.2cm, diameter: 1.8cm, weight: 34g
Provenance
UK art market
This cylindrical case is of gilded sheet silver that has an outer covering of fine silver filigree decorated with red, green and red enamel. The gilding beneath the filigree provides a pleasing contrast with the outer layer of un-gilded silver filigree.
It is a fine example of silver filigree work, most probably from southern China or the Dutch East Indies, possibly Batavia.
The fine, stylised floral motifs of the filigree show Sumatran influence – perhaps it was made by an artisan who came from the Padang area on the west coast of Sumatra. Such filigree work was known in Batavia at the time as ‘Westcust werk’ (Veenendaal, 1995, p. 88).
Veenendaal (2014, p. 126) illustrates a silver filigree box with enamel which he dates to circa 1700. He argues that it was made in West Sumatra, and then enamelled in Batavia, and based on a Chinese example.
Items such as these were commissioned by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the eighteenth century for export to Europe and for use by VOC officials and their families themselves.
This case here is in excellent condition. All the filigree is intact as is the enamel.
References
Gelman Taylor, J., The Social World of Batavia: Europeans and Eurasians in Colonial Indonesia, 2nd ed., The University of Wisconsin Press, 2009.
Haags Gemeentemuseum, V.O.C. – Zilver: Zilver uit de periode van de Verenigde Oostinische Compagnie 17de en 18de eeuw, 1983.
Veenendaal, J., Furniture from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India During the Dutch Period, Foundation Volkenkundig Museum Nusantara, 1985.
Veenendaal, J., Asian Art and the Dutch Taste, Waanders Uitgevers Zwolle, 2014.
Voskuil-Groenewegen, S.M. et al, Zilver uit de tijd van de Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, Waanders Uitgevers, 1998.
Zandvlieyt, K. et al, The Dutch Encounter with Asia 1600-1950, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 2002.
