INDONESIA, PROBABLY BATAVIA, FIRST HALF 18TH CENTURY

This type of carved floral decoration was developed at the end of the 17th Century, when a new style of ebony furniture became fashionable in the Dutch colonies, between circa 1680-1720. The main difference from the previous era is the decoration of large sculpturally-carved flowers, which is called 'half-relief'. This distinction was already made at that time, as we see from the inventory of Cornelia Linis, the widow of the clergyman Johannes Vermeer, dated 1690, which lists, in the front room, 'twelve high kaliatur chairs with large flowers'. This new type of floral decoration was developed around 1680, probably on the Coromandel Coast, and was rapidly introduced in the other Dutch overseas territories. An important factor was, of course, the import of such items of furniture by transferred V.O.C. employees. Another would have been the influx of slaves from India to Indonesia shortly after 1680, amongst which were probably a large number of cabinet-makers. Additionally, both the transport of gravestones with similar floral borders, which were used as ballast on V.O.C. Ships, and samples of Indian textiles also contributed to the spread of this new decoration. (J. Veenendaal, Furniture from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India, Delft, 1985, pp. 47-55)

See illustration