_{In the 17th century the sea-routes from Northern Europe to Asia  started to be navigated, and Holland gradually became a foremost western economic world power in the ‘early modern world’.}

 

 

_{Our project highlights and brings back an almost forgotten  historical phenomenon that came forth out of the intercultural relations between  Europe and Asia in the ‘Golden  Age’  of Holland..}

 

_{Luxurious “East Indian Stores” could be found in 17th and 18th century Amsterdam,  and they provided  the ‘new rich’ of Holland the famed and sophisticated artistic materials of the ancient Asian  civilizations that had come within reach of Northern Europe.}

 

 

_{With the help of our friends, artists and craftsmen and -women around Asia, we have put much effort in recreating the environment of this famous type of store, in the old city of Amsterdam.}

 

_{In our project we wanted to make our visitors experience the admiration that ‘early modern’ western culture had, for the refined artistic expressions of the ancient civilizations of the East.}

 

 

_{Here under you will find a summary of the types of arts and crafts that have been presented in our projects’ store, and some external links for clarification.}

 

  _{Oriental textiles}

_{were world-famous throughout history and highly prized since the ancient world. Before the Europeans had direct access to Asia by sea, these precious materials from the Indian subcontinent and  China reached Europe overland via the Silk road}

_{The  beautiful multicolor and colorfast Chintz  or  Sits became highly  prestigious material for the well-to-do in 17th century Holland, and was applied in the home interior as decorative element and as ‘show-off  garment’ , as for example the ‘Japanese style chintz robe’}

 

 

_{Oriental  ceramics}

_{and especially the  Chinese porcelain ,  produced since ancient times,  was  considered  highly sophisticated and useful material.} 

_{It was also greatly admired   for its artistic quality and exotic beauty.   Oriental ceramics were used as tableware and  applied  for decorative purposes. The best pieces of these  Asian ceramics   were collected and displayed in the Porcelain Cabinet  that functioned as prestigious element in the interior of wealthy citizens in  17th century Holland.}

 

_{Exotic rarities}

_{and of course Asian art  formed an important part of the extensive collections in the rarities cabinets    and the     exhibitions of curiosities of the elite in Holland and across Europe.}

_{Exotic artifacts and ethnographic materials from distant cultures in these encyclopedic collections gave the owner great prestige in the early modern world as cosmopolitan citizen, and as imagined master-investigator of the newly discovered  world. In the 17th century Amsterdam was famed around Europe for the quality and the range of exotic materials that could be found in the city.}

 

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