Travelling and Exoticism / Trade and cultural interaction

The transaction of goods on a larger geographic scale put many different cultures in contact with each other.

Trade linked different regions of Europe by land and by sea, engaging merchants, bankers and many other agents in the commissioning, production and export of products, among which, the fine and applied arts and books were but a part.
Outside the boundaries of Europe, the transaction of goods on a larger geographic scale put many different cultures in contact with each other. The Portuguese acted in Asia as privileged intermediaries, and the other European courts soon had their assets looked after by chosen representatives. The impact of trade can be seen in the commission of objects from all over Europe.

NameDynastyDetailsJustification
Namban Folding Screen (Namban Byobu)c.1593–1600Azuchi-Momoyama periodNational Museum of Ancient Art
Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Around 1543 the Portuguese (or as they were known, the Namban-jin) arrived in Japan, and so began a period of rich cultural exchange. This pair of byobu, made by Japanese artists, is a unique visual document of the presence of the Namban-jin in Japan. Portuguese traders and the Japanese exemplify the cultural encounters seen in this procession, or Namban Gyoretsu, which is passing a Japanese street observed by curious inhabitants.
NameDynastyDetailsJustification
Namban Folding Screen (Namban Byobu)c.1593–1600Azuchi-Momoyama periodNational Museum of Ancient Art
Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
The procession is composed of a Captain-Major, standing underneath a parasol surrounded by other officers, as well as sailors, African slaves, Indians and Malays. The expensive dresses and ornaments of the aristocrats and merchants are clearly visible. The majority wear bombacha – large baggy trousers worn in the East to protect the wearer from mosquitoes – and their doublets have buttons, unknown to the Japanese before the Portuguese arrived, who called them botan from the Portuguese botão.
Namban Folding Screen (Namban Byobu)c.1593–1600Azuchi-Momoyama periodNational Museum of Ancient Art
Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
The transaction of goods on a global scale linked cultures and commercial ambitions. These exotic objects included Chinese folding-chairs, lacquered boxes, porcelain, bundles and bales of silk, and Arabian caged animals. Between the 16th and 17th centuries, Portugal established trade routes along the coastline of the Indian Ocean, the Southern Seas and the China Sea.
Namban Folding Screen (Namban Byobu)c.1593–1600Azuchi-Momoyama periodNational Museum of Ancient Art
Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Missionaries wait in front of the Jesuit church built in the Japanese style: its interior largely follows local models seen in the use of tatami to cover the floor and shoji and fusuma to divide the inner space. The Japanese paid special attention to the “accommodation” of Portuguese and European missionaries, working hard to integrate foreign settlers into Japanese society, which this scene eloquently details.
The Town Hall of Augsburg1615–19 shell construction;1619–26 interior decorationAugsburg, Bavarian Swabia, GermanyThe monumental Early Baroque Town Hall designed by Elias Holl, contains the magnificent Goldener Saal or Golden Hall. Augsburg was an affluent city with a population of wealthy merchants, bankers, publishers and practitioners in the applied arts.
NameDynastyDetailsJustification
Golden HallReconstructed in 1980–1984Rathaus, Augsburg, Bavarian Swabia, GermanyThe Golden Hall, designed as a meeting place for the Reichstag, is adorned with a magnificent ceiling. Surrounding the central image are four oval paintings representing Education, Fertility, Industriousness and Devotion. The valour of Augsburg is also celebrated with the inscription on the banner, which reads: "enemies will be defeated". Four oval frames surrounding the banner represent the allegorical arts of Healing; Honesty, Justice and Prosperity.
Coolers for glassesc. 1700–1720Qing Dynasty (1644–1911)National Museum of Ancient Art
Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
In around 1683, throughout Europe, it was common for large metallic basins with handles to be placed on the ground to cool bottles and ewers during mealtimes. These metal prototypes were then sent to China where potters copied them in porcelain, decorating them according to clients' taste. This cooler would have been used to store bottles, and with a special mount in place, glasses also. Along with another set, this pair of coolers is unique in shape and decoration among exported Chinese porcelain.
House of Pilate1784Oberammergau, Upper Bavaria, GermanyThis impressive example of Bavarian trompe l'oeil façade fresco, known locally as Lüftlmalerei, was executed by Franz Seraph Zwinck. It was commissioned by a wealthy merchant, Anton Lang, who was a well-known collector and dealer in private devotional carvings which were very popular in Bavaria at the time. Lang had trading connections in Spain, Portugal and further afield.
NameDynastyDetailsJustification
House of Pilate1784Oberammergau, Upper Bavaria, GermanyThis house with its fine frescoes, and the other houses like it in the region, were status symbols for their residents and for the whole area. The two façades are adorned with biblical scenes that are fully integrated with the trompe l'oeil-enhanced actual doors and windows. This creates the illusion of a much larger house and enhances the viewer's appreciation of the biblical narrative in terms of everyday, concrete reality.
House of Pilate1784Oberammergau, Upper Bavaria, GermanyDetail of the fresco painting.
Reliquary Chest of St. João de Britoc. 1694–1698Lisbon's Holy House of Mercy / Museum of São Roque
Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
The Portuguese missions spread Christianity among the local Asian populations, preaching to the indigenous peoples, learning the local languages and familiarising themselves with the indigenous cultures. The Jesuit St. João de Brito was sent to the mission in Maduré, India, in 1673 with the aim of converting the higher castes. He became a pandaraswami, an Indian ascetic. His execution in Orbyur, India, in 1690 was ordered by the Raja of Marava.
NameDynastyDetailsJustification
Reliquary Chest of St. João de Britoc. 1694–1698Lisbon's Holy House of Mercy / Museum of São Roque
Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
That the reliquary chest was commissioned by King Pedro II of Portugal as a royal homage to the Jesuit saint can be verified by the Portuguese coat-of-arms in the centre.
Quart1786Moravian Provincial Museum
Ethnographic Institute, Brno, Moravia, Czech Republic
Jan Neumayer was an artist of the Olomouc workshop who probably trained in Italy. He, together with a counterpart in Šternberk, developed the folk faience tradition.