Macao 1724

Francois Valentijn

€ 650

Inter-Antiquariaat Mefferdt & De Jonge

• About the artwork
  VIEW OF 17TH CENTURY MACAO “De Stad Macao”. Copper engraving from François Valentijn’s “Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien”, engraved by Jan van Braam and published in Dordrecht by Gerard onder de Linden in 1724-1726. Coloured by a later hand. Size: 27,3 x 36 cm. A fine view of the city of Macao from Lappa Island, extending to the Barrier Gate at the north of the promontory. European vessels and junks sail the surrounding waters. After the Portuguese were allowed to permanently settle in Macau I  1557, both Chinese and Portuguese merchants flocked to Macau. It quickly became an important hub in the development of Portugal’s trade along three major routes: Macau–Malacca–Goa–Lisbon, Guangzhou–Macau–Nagasaki and Macau–Manila–Mexico. The Guangzhou–Macau–Nagasaki route was particularly profitable because the Portuguese acted as middlemen, shipping Chinese silks to Japan and Japanese silver to China, making significant profits in the process. Macau's golden age coincided with the union of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns, between 1580 and 1640. King Philip II of Spain was encouraged to not harm the status quo, to allow trade to continue between Portuguese Macau and Spanish Manila, and to not interfere with Portuguese trade with China. The alliance of Portugal with Spain meant that Portuguese colonies became targets for the Netherlands, which was involved at the time in a lengthy struggle for its independence from Spain, in the Eighty Years’ War. After the Dutch East India Company was founded in 1602, the Dutch unsuccessfully attacked Macau several times. As well as being an important trading post, Macau was a centre of activity for Catholic missionaries, as it was seen as a gateway for the conversion of the vast populations of China and Japan. In 1685, the privileged position of the Portuguese in trade with China ended, following a decision by the Kangxi Emperor of China to allow trade with all foreign countries. Over the next century, England, the Dutch Republic, France, Denmark, Sweden, the United States and Russia moved in, establishing factories and offices in Guangzhou and Macau. This view shows the major buildings and fortresses, including Fort de Baare, Fortress of Our Lady of Bom Parto, Fort St Paulo [??? - Monte Fort]. Churches and convents including, St. Laurentio, St. Angostino, de Seo [Cathedral], St. Dominic's Church, St. Francisco, Cloister St. Paulo, St. Pedro, St. Joan, St. Antoni, St. Lazarus’ Church and Nossa Senora de Gia. Also indicated is the Shineesches Pagode [A-ma Temple]. François Valentijn was a prominent historian of the Dutch East India Company (V.O.C.) who is best known for “Oud en Nieuw Oost Indiën”, his vast illustrated account of the Dutch trading empire in Asia. He travelled to the East Indies twice and served as Calvinist minister to Ambon between 1686 and 1694. In preparing this monumental work, he was given privileged access to the previously secret archives of the V.O.C., containing transcripts and copies of important earlier Dutch voyages. While Valentijn’s maps and diagrams were prized possessions, his scholarship, judging by 21st century standards was unscrupulous. Valentijn’s use of the products of other scientists’ and writers’ intellectual labour and his passing it off as his own, reveals a penchant for self-aggrandisement. Price: Euro 650,-
• About the artist

  François Valentijn (Dordrecht, April 17, 1666 – The Hague, August 6, 1727) was a Dutch minister, historian, and chronicler of exceptional significance for the knowledge of Asia in the early eighteenth century. He was twice sent to "the East" in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), an experience that formed the basis for his monumental life's work, Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën (Old and New East Indies).

  After returning to the Netherlands, Valentijn devoted himself to compiling this extensive and unparalleled work, which has never been equaled in both its scope and level of detail. At a time when the VOC kept its information strictly confidential, he managed to amass a vast body of knowledge by utilizing all the oral and written sources he could obtain. His strength lay not only in his curiosity and tenacity, but also in his talent as a storyteller: Valentijn wrote vividly, precisely, and with a remarkably broad perspective.

  In Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën (Old and New East Indies), he explicitly glorified Dutch power and empire in Asia. Valentijn was a staunch nationalist and saw it as his overarching mission to describe Dutch power in the East and thus demonstrate that the Republic had not lost the fortitude of its Batavian ancestors. In the preface to his work, he emphasized his desire to make visible the progress and glory of the Netherlands throughout the centuries.

  This attitude earned him the reputation of a somewhat self-absorbed and vain historian. Yet, this criticism does little to detract from the enduring value of his work. It is precisely through his detailed descriptions that the interaction between Europeans and Asians becomes vividly visible: not only colonial power relations, but also cultural encounters, misunderstandings, and mutual influences are given a place in his narrative.

  François Valentijn thus remains a complex figure: simultaneously nationalist and chronicler, preacher and historian, vain writer and indispensable source. His work remains a key text for understanding the Dutch presence in Asia and the broader world history of the early modern period.

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