Crematie van de koning van Pegu 1780

This print, made by Cornelis Brouwer in the late 1700s, depicts the cremation of the King of Pegu. The image is an engraving, a printmaking technique where lines are incised into a metal plate, which then holds ink and transfers the image onto paper. The fine, precise lines visible here are characteristic of this process. Engraving was a skilled craft, demanding meticulous labor. The engraver’s task was to translate the scene into a language of line, using hatching and cross-hatching to create tone and texture. In Brouwer’s time, prints like these were often made to document far-off lands and customs for a European audience. There is a colonial dimension here, in that this is an image of Myanmar rendered for a European market of consumers. The very act of capturing and reproducing this scene transforms a ritual act into a commodity. What was once a sacred ceremony becomes a commercial product, mediated by the artist’s hand, the engraver’s skill, and the mechanisms of trade.