DUTCH DEMAND FOR PORCELAIN . The Maritime Distribution of Chinese Ceramics and the Dutch East India Company (VOC), first half of the 17th century.

The aim of this thesis is to give a systematic interpretation of the maritime trade and transportation of Chinese ceramics in a historical perspective from the ninth-century Tang dynasty up to the middle of the 17th century. The focus is on Dutch demand for porcelain, which types of porcelain were ordered and what the Dutch East India Company (VOC) transported. Ceramics from dated shipwrecks (from the Tang dynasty on) as well as documented lists for orders (Nationaal Archief) by the VOC are used.The VOC was the main company ordering and storing Chinese porcelain and distributed it within Asia and to Europe during the first half of the 17th century. This gave the Company an exceptional place in the history of Chinese export ware.