The Seventeenth-century European and Japanese Ceramics Excavated from the Site of Fort Zeelandia, Taiwan

The present essay attempts to local the seventeenth century European and Japanese ceramics excavated at eh site of Fort Zeelandia within the network of Asian trade. The European ceramics recovered form the site include pieces of bluelead-glazed Maolica ware, which appear to be shards of albarello jars. Other discoveries included pieces of German-made sodium-glazed handled wine ewers, commonly known as Batmannskrug Barradman. The fragments of these ewers bear swallow impressed and appliqu? emblems of Amsterdam, which strongly suggests that they were fired at the Frechen kilns as of the German Rhine for sale in Holland. Japanese ceramics found on the site included two color Karatsu ware from the Hizen region of Kyushu. The discovery of similar Majolica and Frechen shards at Pasar Ikan and Banten in Indonesia, as well as the site of the Dutch settlement in Naggasaki, when combined with textual evidence, demonstrates that the European ceramics found in Taiwan were in all likelihood left by the Dutch. The Japanese Karatsu ware is possibly a product of the ceramics trade conducted by the clan of Chgeng Ch’eng-kung (Koxinga). Thus, it is clear that the ceramics discovered at Fort Zeelandia included not only Chinese wares, but also seventeenth century ceramics from places as far-flung as Germany, Holland, Thailand, and Japan. Such assemblages are entirely absent from the Chinese archeological record, and can be considered an archeological reflection of Taiwan’s position as a hub of seventeenth century Asian trade.