“The Carryers of the World”: Trade and Luxury Goods in the Dutch Golden Age

Femke Diercks In 1728 the Englishman Daniel Defoe described the Dutch as “The Carryers of the World, the middle Persons of Trade, the Factors and Brokers of Europe.” In this lecture, Femke Diercks, Curator of European Ceramics at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, examines the extraordinary role that the Dutch played in the international trade scene during the early modern period. Focusing on the two principal trading companies of the time, the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (Dutch East India Company) and the West-Indische Compagnie (Dutch West India Company), the lecture explores the luxury goods they transported, the methods they employed to build their networks, and their interactions with local communities. Diercks also discusses Amsterdam’s position as a European center for luxury goods, as well as the universal desire to own these wares—which transcended social class. Generously sponsored by the Martin A. Ryerson Fund. Note: This lecture is the second in the series “The Dutch Abroad and What They Brought Back.”

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