BATAVIA, 18TH CENTURY

Details

A Dutch colonial brass-mounted teak chest
Batavia, 18th Century
With pierced foliate mounts to the corners and base, bold carrying handles to the sides, and a pierced floral lockplate, on later ebonised ball feet
92cm. high x 183cm. wide x 72cm. deep

Special notice

Christie's charges a Buyer's premium calculated at 23.205% of the hammer price for each lot with a value up to €110,000. If the hammer price of a lot exceeds €110,000 then the premium for the lot is calculated at 23.205% of the first €110,000 plus 11.9% of any amount in excess of €110,000. Buyer's Premium is calculated on this basis for each lot individually.

Lot Essay

Chests were an important piece of furniture in the colonies. Chests of all types of wood were used to transport goods by ship, often these were re-enforced with iron mounts. Sometimes the sizes of these chests were so large that they could barely be handled. It has been known to happen that ship were overloaded with extra chests and consequently sunk. In 1717 strict regulations were introduced specifying the size and the number of chest that were allowed to be taken on board. Chests from this period onwards were to be no wider than five feet (circa 165cm.) measured on the inside of the chest. The number and the size of the chests that were allowed to be taken varied according to rank. Officers and non-commissioned officers from the rank of sergeant were allowed the five foot trunk, lower ranks had to make do with smaller chests. Most of the djatti chests that remain today were luxurios versions of the five foot chest.
J. Veenendaal, Furniture from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India, Delft, 1985, p. 77-84.

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