Painting of Pieter Cnoll and His Family: Handkerchief, Insignificant Stuff but Substantial Meaning

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1.Background

Figure 1. Pieter Cnoll and His Famil painted by J.J. Coeman, Batavia, materials: canvas and oil, Rijksmuseum SK-A-40

What do you see in the painting of Pieter Cnoll and his family? Of course, the European costumes and luxurious materials which are presented in the painting. The family was a representation of the upper-class of a European family who occupied Batavia in the seventeenth century. The painting had been an object for several studies, for example, the role of the wife (Cornelia), the beetle box, and even the slaves that stand behind the family. However, the object that becomes my focus of study in the painting is the white handkerchief which is carried by Hester, one of the daughters who is sitting.

Although it looks small and dispensable, the handkerchief actually reflects ample meanings, not only to combat with flu or wave goodbye to a friend, but also it is a useful piece of material that might be historical for many people in the world. There have been so many literatures that record the roles of a handkerchief. The cultural value of this insignificant cloth reflects an unimaginative level. The level of any culture at any given time of the handkerchief not only recorded by artistic, economic, and social achievements, but also its use in particular those related to luxury and fashion.[1]

There is no literature that says and interprets the meaning of this white handkerchief to the family or to the audience in the painting. Therefore, in this paper I would like to know the reason why Hester carried a white handkerchief in the painting. In answering this question, firstly, I would like to know about the role of handkerchief for the Dutch in the 16^th and 19^th Century. Since the panting was made in (Batavia) Java, is there any connection of using handkerchief in the painting to the Javanese culture? Was the role of handkerchief for the Dutch being adopted by the Javanese? In elaborating the connection, I would also analyze the relationship between power and recognition between Dutch-Indonesian societies in the context of culture by using theory of Power/Knowledge by Michel Foucault (1980).

 

1.2. Research Question

This paper focuses on answering the main research question:

Why Hester held a white handkerchief in her hand?

The main question is followed by three sub central sub-questions:

1. What was the role of handkerchief for the Dutch?
2. What was the role of handkerchief for the Javanese?
3. Was the role of handkerchief for the Dutch being adopted by Javanese society?

1.3.Previously related study

Publication that relate to the handkerchief is the book titled The History of the Handkerchief by M. Braun-Ronsdorf (1967). It described the beginning history of the handkerchief from the earliest period to the present days. In his book, M. Braun explained the role of the handkerchief in European societies; some of the explanations were supported by paintings. But in this book, the use of handkerchief is European in general from early period until 18^th century.

A book titled The Social World of Batavia: European and Eurasians in Colonial Indonesia, by Jeans Gelman Taylor (1983) described the European and Eurasians society in Batavia during the period of 16^th -19^th century. In her book, she described the way of life of the Europeans (specifically the Netherlands, and Eurosians-Asian-Dutch women) and how they influenced the indigenous society in Batavia and Java through culture, fashion, and many more. Through this book, I would like to construct a cultural connection of the use of handkerchief in both Netherlands and Indonesian societies in the 16^th-19^th Centuries.

 

1.4 Methodology

The research focuses on the cultural study in order to see the connection of the use of handkerchief between the Javanese and the Dutch in the 16^th-19^th centuries by using secondary sources such as books and literatures: The Social World of Batavia: European and Eurasians in Colonial Indonesia, by Jeans Gelman Taylor (1983) and Outward Appearances: Dressing State and Society in Indonesia by Henk Schulte Nordholt (ed) (1997). The variables of research that are used in this paper are the use of a handkerchief in the Netherlands society and in the Javanese society and the background situation in the 16^th-19^th Centuries in Java.

The paper is divided into four chapters. First chapter is the introduction that exintuukjbfkdjsbfksbfplains the background, research questions, previous related studies, and methodology. Second chapter is the description of the painting, the role of handkerchief for the Netherlanders society in the 16^th- 19^th Century and the situational background of Batavia and Java under Dutch Colonial Period.

Third chapter is the description of handkerchief in Java and in Batavia in the 17^th-19th Centuries. Fourth chapter is cultural analysis of handkerchief in the painting and in Javanese society and conclusion.

CHAPTER II

PAINTING OF PIETER CNOLL AND HIS FAMILY AND HANDKERCHIEF

II. 1. Painting of Pieter Cnoll and His Family

The painting of Pieter Cnoll and his family reflected the complex relation between the European (Dutch) and Eastern (Javanese) societies in the Seventeenth centuries. [2]The family portrait painting was made by J.J. Coeman in 1664-1665 in Batavia. J.J. Coeman first came to Batavia in 1663 as a cleric assistant. He was commissioned to create a pictorial record of Asian places, products, peoples, landscapes and harbors and the company’s in its daily activities. [3]His worked in style was Thomas de Keyser-excellent portrait painter from Amsterdam. His work in the painting of Pieter Cnoll and his family is the most well-known creation since it depicts abundance objects in the seventeenth century which were really interesting to be discussed further.

In the painting, Pieter Cnoll and his wife is the centre of attention. Pieter Cnoll was a very successful figure in Batavia in the Seventeenth century. In the beginning of his carrier, he started as a low-ranked of clerk in VOC, and he soon got promotion and was appointed as the first merchant by VOC at the same year of his arrival. [4] His wife, Cornelia van Neyenrode, was a daughter born to a Japanese woman by Cornelis van Neyenrode, head of the Hirado factory in southern Japan from 1623 to 1632. [5]His two daughters, Catharina (standing) and Hester (sitting and holding a white handkerchief) were at the left of their parents. Behind the family, there were two natives slaves wearing traditional costumes. This painting shows a representation of Dutch power over the native society at that time. Pieter Cnoll stands in a black shirt proudly since he held highest position among all of the VOC merchants in Batavia at that time. Cornelia stands dressed in black, her face a delicately drawn oval, eyes slanted, whereas the daughters have features closely resemble to the mother’s.[6] These three women wear European style and one of them carried the opulent symbol of European community, namely white handkerchief.

II.2. the Role of Handkerchief for the Netherlanders

            II.3.1. Sosial Status

The use of handkerchief for the Netherlanders in the seventeenth century reflected the way Europeans applied this tiny square at that time. A picture which is very informative with regard to costume history, painted by the Dutch painter Danckerts (1630-78), shows Charles I with his gardener Mr. Rose; the king has such a handkerchief decorated with tassels, which hangs from the pocket of his justaucorps like a piece of jeweler, when receiving the first pineapple ever grown in England. [7]From this information, we can see that Handkerchief was used by the king to symbolize his status, as a king and a prominent figure. It also means that handkerchief was used not only for women but also for man.

In figure 2 below, shows the scene of a court house in Netherlands. The ladies in the painting held white handkerchiefs in their hands. These ladies were actually not ordinary ladies, but they were prominent figures in the society at that time. The term of using the handkerchief from the finest material such as silk and special embroidery was specifically to the women from high-ranking class. They used high quality handkerchiefs for special event such as court house events, parties, etc. It is their tradition and custom to use handkerchief as one of the accessories in their fashion.

Figure 2: “Court Scene”, Mauritshuis, The Hague, by Frans Francken Jr., depicted a situation of a court house in Netherlands in the late of 16^th Century. The women in the painting wore luxurious dresses and handkerchief

II.3.2. Cleanliness and Habit

For Dutch ladies, white handkerchief was always carried in special occasion. The white color represented “neatness” and “cleanliness”. [8]For a Dutch Woman who held white handkerchief in this context meant that she is a very neat and clean lady.  Cleanliness was one of the most important concepts used by the Dutch in the seventeenth century. The western concept of cleanliness developments in house design and household were implemented visualized in Dutch paintings of the golden age.[9]This concept was then spread to all societies in Netherlands by the mid-nineteenth century. The Handkerchief, fork and ceramic wash basin had spread widely amongst Dutch people, in the Indies, where they brought these items in their travelling kits. [10]As immigrants in Batavia, they brought the items as their basic needs that were used for their daily activities. This item was then also used by their children as a part of their habits.

II.3.3. Part of Fashion

In the late seventeenth century, the use of handkerchief had spread not only for women but also for children in a rich family in Netherlands. In 1644 Mrs Du Jon recorded what she sent to her child Jan Augustyn who was studying in Leuven:

Reminder of what I sent to Jan Augustyn in Leuven in April 1644. 10 pairs of cuffs, 7 shoulders cloths, 2 night caps, 8 shirts, 5 handkerchiefs, 2 pairs of cannons (the cloths worn in boots), 2 pairs of stockings without feet, and a white pair of feet, napkins,  a pair of bed sheets, a pair of grey wool stockings, a pair of roses for garters in black French silk,  a black hat,  a wooden inkwell, a ream of paper, a new cloth suit in Spanish style with a pair of hose, a doublet,  a coat  with velvet sleeves,  a cloth suit in the French style,  shoe-brush, a clothes-brush and other odds and ends.[11]

            1n 1752, VOC issued a policy for European and mestiza girls had clothings in the following manner: each year they received 2 blouses of ordinary bleached cotton, 4 bodices of Chinese linen: 2 chintz skirts; 2 sailor-style kebayas (overbloues); 2 kebayas of Surat cloth: 1 Makassar sarong; 3 handkerchiefs, 3 pairs of stockings; 2 pair of shoes; and 2 pairs of sandals. [12] This shows that handkerchief is part of fashion for Europeans and mestiza girls in Batavia in the period of eighteenth century.

The use of handkerchief for children in Netherlands in the seventeenth century also occurred in Batavia. Hester, one of Pieter Cnoll’s daughters and all Europeans and mestiza society, used the white handkerchief as a part of fashion and accessories.

To conclude this chapter, there were three roles of handkerchiefs for the Netherlanders in the 16^th-18^th centuries. First, handkerchief was to symbolize social status of the users. This social status was not only for women but also for men. Second, handkerchief was part of fashion of high-ranked women in special occasions such as parties, court events as fashion. Third, white handkerchief was commonly used to symbolize cleanliness and neatness. The Netherlanders employed white handkerchief since it represented cleanliness and neatness. The concept for the Netherlanders was important for them in the seventeenth century.

CHAPTER III

THE ROLE OF HANDKERCHIEF FOR THE JAVANESE SOCIETY

IN THE 17^TH – 19^TH CENTURY

III.1. the Role of Handkerchief for the Javanese in the 17^th-19^th Century

            There are very limited literatures that record the use of handkerchief by the Javanese in these periods. However, there are two major important roles of handkerchief in Java during the 17^th-19^th centuries. They are as follows:

III.2.1 Symbol of Feminine Refinement

It is not clear when the handkerchief was first introduced in Java in the earlier periods. But, in the seventeenth century, the Javanese used handkerchief as one of the symbol of feminine refinement. Jane Gelman Taylor (2006) described a fan, a handkerchief as familiar symbols in Java of feminine refinement, which reflects the parents’ gesture toward the riches they enjoy in children, place and things.[13]

However, there is no specific detail such as pictures or descriptions of the role of handkerchief for the Javanese during this period.  There was also no specific description of the color of handkerchief that was used in this period. It is limited perhaps due to the policy that was issued by the VOC during this period. It was decreed that, the local inhabitants in Batavia were not allowed to dress like Europeans, they were expected, as least when they were living in Batavia, to stick to their own regional, or ‘national’ as it was called, costume. [14] The decree was for sure to forbid the use of any European fashion, including handkerchief which at time was one of Europeans’ symbol.

II.2.2. Symbol of Social Status

The use of handkerchief in Batavia in the Eighteenth century as a symbol of social status was first depicted in the painting of “wedding in Batavia” in figure 3 below. In the painting we can see a woman (a local woman with dark hair wears a long, white shirt and a long red and white flower skirt) walks with a European man (probably her husband, a VOC official in Batavia). She holds a white handkerchief in her right hand and she shows that handkerchief to everybody in order to symbolize her status as one of the member upper class in Batavia.

Figure 3: “Dutch Wedding in Batavia, “color drawing by Jan Brandes, 1779-1785. “Europeans” of Batavia’s Mestizo society formally greet a new bride, as female slave’s refreshment and a slave orchestra performs (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam NG-369).

By the Nineteen Century, the use of handkerchief was recorded as a symbol of social status in Java. The middle class lady covers her mouth with a handkerchief when laughing; she carries the handkerchief prominently outside of her handbag, establishing status differences from village women who pull on cloth wrapped around the waist to blow their nose and wipe their brow. [15]

To sum up this chapter, the roles of handkerchief in Java during the periods of the seventeenth - nineteenth centuries were a symbol of feminine refinement and social status. Evidences show that Javanese women (also local women who married with Dutch men) use handkerchief to show and symbolize their social status to the society, whereas there is no definite evidence that shows Javanese men use handkerchief.

CHAPTER IV

CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF HANDKERCHIEF IN THE PAINTING

PIETER CNOLL AND HIS FAMILY AND IN JAVANESE SOCIETY

IV.1. Cultural Analysis of Handkerchief in the Painting

When the Dutch navigator Cornelis Houtman first put in at Jacatra on 13 November 1596, the town was a minor port lying across the mouth of the Ciliwung River on the northwest coast of Java. [16] Ever since that date, the Dutch tried to take over the power in Jacatra and all over regions in Java. Towards the end of 1618, agents of England’s East India Trading Company were assigned land and privileges in Jacatra, and Jan Pieterszoon Coen, then second-in-command for the Dutch Company in Asia, determined to establish supremacy over the town.[17] From this time on, Jacatra and all areas in Java, including the entire regions in the archipelago were taken over by the power of the Dutch.

In order to show their power over the societies, which at that time consisted of Europeans, Javanese, Chinese, Arabic, and Eurosian societies, the Dutch issued numerous decrees and acts. Violations of the rules and decrees would be considered as an assault and serious punishment would be sentenced for those who disobeyed them. This attitude shows that the Dutch through VOC tried to force their power to the society (including to the European societies). Furthermore, the Dutch issued policies on religions, language, population, administrative government, and marriages. Mix marriages with Asian women were governed strictly by VOC. The VOC issued a marriage act, “only Christian women could be married by all ranks European men in Batavia, and marriage Asian women joined the European community, bearing Dutch names and assuming their husbands’ nationality”.[18]

While religion was a unifying bond, Asian and part-Asian ranked lower socially. [19]The European society remained to be the highest rank and they became the number one attention in every sector of life. This intensity created the feeling of uncertainty in the societies, mostly for the Eurosians who had married or in a relation with Dutch partners. They became unsecured and worried that they would not be in the first class society. As Foucault (1980) has explained, power is applied to immediate everyday life which categorizes the individual, marks him by his own individually, attacks him to his own identity, impose a law on truth on him which he must recognize and which others have to be recognized in him. [20]In this context, the Cnoll’s ladies were one of the examples. They wanted to be recognized as the member of European community for the position of Pieter Cnoll as the number one merchant in VOC. Although Cornelia was born as a mix child of Japanese-Dutch, and Hester and Chatarina were mix-marriage daughters (with slanted eyes, black hair), they considered themselves as Asian outsiders. They chose to be in the first-class society following their father status by using handkerchief (as symbol of Social status for the Europeans) to impose their European identity.

IV.2. Cultural Analysis of Handkerchief in the Javanese Society

Before 1900, for many ordinary inhabitants of the Indies, the scope was limited by specific rules imposed first, in the early days of the Dutch presence by the VOC and later on by the colonial government, concerning what costumes a certain group of people were allowed to wear and those to which they had no right. [21]The policy created several blocks and distinctions among the existing societies. In the VOC period, Dutch dress was the unmistakable sign of the culture and religion of the foreign overlord. [22]At that time only the European community was allowed to use the western style and no Javanese was allowed to imitate the style. This situation created an interpretation that behaving in a European way (using symbols of western in costumes) was fashionable for the elite of Java.

 The attitude according to Foucault (1979), the colony was being miniaturized, inventoried and surveyed; discipline would come next.[23]The Javanese society was the colony of the Dutch. It was a miniature of the Dutch society where there were interactions between these two societies. The Dutch wanted to close the bridge of cultures to the Javanese society at that time by strictly creating the exclusive gap, (only Europeans were considered as elite class). The Cnoll’s ladies also created gaps by using handkerchief as a European symbol. They wanted to be apart from local (Asian) culture.  However, the Javanese did not want the separation and they created the cultural bridge by imitating the western symbols, or in this case they imitated the role of handkerchief for symbolizing their social status (upper class). Clothes, costumes, accessories seemed to speak in a full, clear voice. [24]By imitating the symbols, the Javanese and local inhabitants in Batavia (specifically the upper and middle class) wanted to be equal with the Dutch in the communities.

IV. 3. Conclusion

To sum up, there was a two-way interaction between the Dutch and the Javanese societies in using the handkerchief:

1. The Dutch, which was represented by Cnoll’s ladies, used handkerchief as a symbol of European social status in order to be recognized as the member of elite class of the European community in Batavia in the 17^th century. They wanted to show that they were separated culturally from the native local inhabitants (Javanese society). They did this since there was a fear that the family (which was not purely Dutch was not the part of the dominate power in the society (the Dutch society).
2. Instead of reserving handkerchief as the western symbol only for themselves, the Dutch invited the Javanese to use handkerchief as a western symbol in order to have equal position with Dutch. This explained the similar use of handkerchief as a symbol of social status for the Javanese in the 17^th-19^th centuries. The Javanese adopted the role of handkerchief as Europeans’ symbol for social status to be used in their society.

Biblography

Berichte, Riggisberger, Netherlandish Fashion in the Seventeenth Century, Switzerland: Abegg-Stiftung, 2012

Braun M-Rondsdorf, The History of the Handkerchief, England: F. Lewis Publishers Ltd, 1967

Danandjaja, James, “Outward Appearances: Dressing the State and Society”,1993, in International Workshop on Indonesian Studies No. 8, Royal Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology,

Dijk, Kees van, “Sarong, Jubbah, and Troussers Appearance as a Means of Distinction and Discrimination”, in Outward Appearance: Dressing State and Society in Indonesia, Henk Schulte Nordholt (ed), Leiden: KITLV, 1997

Foucault, Michael, Discipline and Punish; the Birth of the Prison. Translated by Alan Sheridan, New York: Vintage Books, 1979

_____________, Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977, Colin Gordon (ed), New York: Pantheon Books, 1980

Mrazek, Rudolf, “Indonesian Dandy: The Politics of Clothes in the Late Colonial Period, 1893-1942, in Outward Appearance: Dressing State and Society in Indonesia, Henk Schulte Nordholt (ed), Leiden: KITLV, 1997

Taylor, Jean Gelman,“Meditations on Portrait from Seventeenth-century Batavia”, 2006, in Journal of Southeast Asian Studies Vol. 37

_________________, The Social World of Batavia: Europeans and Eurosians in Colonial Indonesia, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2009

_________________,“Painted Ladies of the VOC”, 2009, in South African Historical Journal Vol. 59

_________________, “Bathing and Hygiene: Histories from the KITLV Image Archives”, in Cleanliness and Culture Indonesian Histories, Kees van Dijk and Jean Taylor Gelman (ed), Leiden: KITLV, 2011

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[1] Braun M-Rondsdorf, The History of the Handkerchief, (England: F. Lewis, Publishers, Ltd, 1967), pp. 5

[2] Taylor, Jean Gelman,“Meditations on Portrait from Seventeenth-century Batavia”, 2006, in Journal of Southeast Asian Studies Vol. 37, pp. 23.

[3] Ibid., pp. 25.

[4] Ibid., pp. 27.

[5] ____________________, The Social World of Batavia: Europeans and Eurosians in Colonial Indonesia (Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2009), pp. 42.

[6] Taylor, Jean Gelman, The Social World of Batavia: Europeans and Eurosians in Colonial Indonesia (Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2009), pp. 42.

[7] Berichte, Riggisberger, Netherlandish Fashion in the Seventeenth Century, (Switzerland: Abegg-Stiftung, 2012) pp. 26.

[8] Berichte, Riggisberger, Netherlandish Fashion in the Seventeenth Century, (Switzerland: Abegg-Stiftung, 2012) pp. 32.

[9] Taylor, Jane Gelman, 2011, “Bathing and Hygiene: Histories from the KITLV Images Archives”, wrote in: the Book edited by C. van Dijk and J.G. Taylor, Culture and Cleanliness: Indonesian Histories, (Leiden: KITLV Press, 2011), pp. 41.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Berichte, Riggisberger, Netherlandish Fashion in the Seventeenth Century, (Switzerland: Abegg-Stiftung, 2012) pp. 60.

[12] Taylor, Jean Gelman, The Social World of Batavia: Europeans and Eurosians in Colonial Indonesia (Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2009), pp. 28.

[13] Taylor, Jean Gelman, “Meditations on a Portrait from Seventeenth Century Batavia”, 2006, in Journal of Southeast Asian Studies  Vol. 37, pp. 38

[14] Dijk, Kees van, “Sarong, Jubbah, and Troussers Appearance as a Means of Distinction and Discrimination”, in Outward Appearance: Dressing State and Society in Indonesia, Henk Schulte Nordholt (ed) (Leiden: KITLV, 1997), pp. 45.

[15] Taylor, Jean Gelman, “Bathing and Hygiene: Histories from the KITLV Image Archives”, in Cleanliness and Culture Indonesian Histories, Kees van Dijk and Jean Taylor Gelman (ed) (Leiden: KITLV, 2011), pp. 54.

[16] Taylor, Jean Gelman, The Social World of Batavia: Europeans and Eurosians in Colonial Indonesia (Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2009), pp. 3.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid, pp. 17.

[19] Ibid., pp. 28.

[20] Foucault, Michel, Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977, Colin Gordon (ed) (New York: Pantheon Books, 1980), pp. 194-228.

[21] Dijk, Kees van, “Sarong, Jubbah, and Troussers Appearance as a Means of Distinction and Discrimination”, in Outward Appearance: Dressing State and Society in Indonesia, Henk Schulte Nordholt (ed) (Leiden: KITLV, 1997), pp. 40.

[22] Ibid., pp. 45.

[23] Foucault, Michael, Discipline and Punish; The Birth of the Prison. Translated by Alan Sheridan,(New York: Vintage Books, 1979), pp. 135-69, 195-230.

[24] Mrazek, Rudolf, “Indonesian Dandy: The Politics of Clothes in the Late Colonial Period, 1893-1942, in Outward Appearance: Dressing State and Society in Indonesia, Henk Schulte Nordholt (ed) (Leiden: KITLV, 1997), pp. 118.