Extremely Rare Dutch Colonial Decanter Case with Silver Mounts & 6+4 Gilded Glass Decanters Batavia, Dutch East Indies & Gujarat, West India
early 18th century
height of box when closed: 19,5cm, width: 24cm, depth: 21,5cm; typical height of bottles: 15cm, Period 1710-1740.
This superb decanter case with silver mounts and matching 6+4 decanters is exceptional for its rarity, quality and condition. We are aware of one other similar set from Batavia, complete that incorporates glass bottles, which is sold by Michael Backmen Art ltd to a museum. Certainly none has been illustrated in the relevant literature. A third set in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam attributed to the late 17th century incorporates a wooden box with silver mounts and square Japanese porcelain bottles each emblazoned with ‘VOC’ the initials of the Dutch East India Company.
The box is in immaculate condition. There is one tiny repair near the lock. The lid fits tightly and evenly and the box itself sits flatly. The interior compartments are complete and rigid. The woodworking and the silversmithing are of the highest quality. Clearly, this was a costly, luxurious set when it was made or commissioned.
The decanters are Dutch in style (Duth gin bottles), although shorter. They are square in shape, and taper at the shoulder to a narrow, short cylindrical neck. All of the bottles have later added silver mounts around their necks. Only the four smaller bottles have the Dutch hallmark after 1805. All the bottles have clear pontil marks to the base.
Carboni (2001) comments that bottles such as these were produced in Gujarat in west India. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) established a trade factory in Gujarat in 1618 and Dutch influence remained strong in Gujarat into the eighteenth century.
A related set of six bottles attributed to ‘probably Gujarat, West India, 18th century’ comprised lot 230, Christie’s ‘Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds’ October 7, 2008 and raised over GPB 20.000,–
In any event, the set evocatively symbolises the trading routes of the day: bottles made in European form, most probably in Gujarat, and then being fitted with a box in Batavia.
This is an important, museum-worthy set.