Regional Connections

The Dutch East India Company (VOC) operated for nearly two centuries (1602–1796), building a vast trade and shipping network across Asia, with Batavia (modern-day Jakarta) as its main hub.

Luxury goods flowed into Batavia, including textiles and furniture from the Coromandel Coast (India), rare woods from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), lacquerware from Dejima (Japan), and ceramics shipped through Fujian (China). These objects adorned the homes of Batavia’s elite, reflecting the city’s cosmopolitan culture.

Furniture also arrived in Batavia from VOC posts when officials transported their prized objects during reassignments. Other furniture was captured from Portuguese ships or conquered territories such as Malacca (Malaysia). The VOC also gifted furniture to local rulers to monopolise trade.

Batavia was a major center for the regional slave trade, with people brought from the Coromandel Coast and Malacca to work, many as furniture makers. Some gained freedom as ‘Mardijkers’ whose descendants still live in Jakarta to this day. 

Indiae Orientalis nec non Insularum Adiacentium Nova Descriptio, Amsterdam, N. Visscher, c.1678.