Furniture from the Netherlands East Indies 1600-1900

Book excerpt: The Tropenmuseum of Amsterdam houses one of the largest and most important collections of furniture from the former Netherlands East Indies. This group of items has received very little scholarly attention, but holds important information about the domestic lives of the Dutch in the country s former trading posts and colonies. It is an important historical document of a scarcely detailed period of Dutch interior decoration in an alien environment. The Tropenmuseum initiated a four-year conservation project that led to important discoveries about the original appearance of these items discoveries that forced alteration of current views. Drawn from this project, this book discusses important aspects of social and domestic life in the former Netherlands East Indies and also gives a technical survey of the museum s significant collection of ebony furniture. A short catalog details highlights from the Tropenmuseum collection."