Masonic networks, material culture and international trade : the participation of Dutch Freemasons in the commercial and cultural exchange with Southeast Asia (1735-1853)

Doctoral Thesis

Freemasonry is an initiation society, active in the Netherlands since 1735. This dissertation discusses the history, rituals, material culture and iconography of freemasonry in the Netherlands and its trade posts in India, Ceylon, the Dutch East Indies, China and Japan. The membership had particular advantages for travellers, which explains why ca. 20-30% of the employees of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) were members. They were involved in the trade in export art for the European and American markets, and also traded privately in goods for the masonic markets. The dissertation describes the daily routine in the lodges in the 18th and 19th centuries, the extraordinary ritual architecture and interiors of lodge buildings on Java, and the production of Chinese export porcelain and Japanese lacquer with complex symbolic decorations. The participation of women and (Eur)asians in lodges on Java is also briefly discussed. As such, the book offers those interested in art history,...Show moreFreemasonry is an initiation society, active in the Netherlands since 1735. This dissertation discusses the history, rituals, material culture and iconography of freemasonry in the Netherlands and its trade posts in India, Ceylon, the Dutch East Indies, China and Japan. The membership had particular advantages for travellers, which explains why ca. 20-30% of the employees of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) were members. They were involved in the trade in export art for the European and American markets, and also traded privately in goods for the masonic markets. The dissertation describes the daily routine in the lodges in the 18th and 19th centuries, the extraordinary ritual architecture and interiors of lodge buildings on Java, and the production of Chinese export porcelain and Japanese lacquer with complex symbolic decorations. The participation of women and (Eur)asians in lodges on Java is also briefly discussed. As such, the book offers those interested in art history, colonial history and/or the East India Company an introduction into a relatively unknown subject. It provides information for the identification and dating of relevant museum objects, and makes a large amount of material from lodge archives accessible.
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Freemasonry

Masonic