Allegorie op de VOC 1739

Jan Punt produced this engraving, Allegorie op de VOC, sometime in the 18th century, using the reductive process of carving lines into a metal plate to hold ink, which is then transferred to paper. The density of the lines, and the hand-applied pressure in printing, give depth and texture to the otherwise monochrome scene. The print allegorically represents the Dutch East India Company, or VOC. Note how the ships in the background are dwarfed by the figures in the foreground. These include exoticized natives offering tribute, and a figure of Batavia – the VOC’s headquarters in Java. The combination of a lion, a symbol of Dutch power, and luxury goods like porcelain and textiles, underlines the wealth extracted from the colony. Consider this image in light of the VOC's vast scale, and the staggering amount of human labor and resources involved. Punt's print allows us to reflect on how images participated in the construction of colonial power, even as they obscured its true cost.