Antique Print of the King of Bali by Houtman (1646)

Description: Antique print titled 'Afteeckeninghe van de Koningh te Bali sittende op sijn Waghen'. Depiction of the King of Bali sitting in his coach. This is an extremely rare print / copperplate engraving from: 'De eerste Schipvaerd der Hollandsche Natie naer Oost-Indien.... (The first sea voyage of the Dutch nation to the East-Indies ...), which was part of the monumental work by Isaac Commelin (1598-1676) on VOC voyages: 'Begin ende voortgangh van de Vereenighde Nederlantsche Geoctroyeerde Oost-Indische Companie....', published by Joannes Janssonius, Amsterdam, 1646. The First Dutch Expedition to Indonesia was an expedition that took place from 1595 to 1597. It was instrumental in the opening up of the Indonesian spice trade to the merchants that eventually formed the Dutch East India Company, and marked the end of the Portuguese Empire's dominance in the region. Although the expedition did not bring back as much as expected - 245 bags of pepper, 45 tons of nutmeg, and 30 bales of mace - spice prices had become so inflated that the expedition was still profitable. All in all, the voyage suffered from bad leadership, but was still instrumental in opening up the East Indies to the Dutch

Artists and Engravers: During this voyage Cornelis de Houtman (1565-1599) emerged as the leader of the expedition. He was the brother of Frederick de Houtman, a Dutch explorer who discovered a new sea route from Europe to Indonesia and managed to begin the Dutch spice trade.