Dutch merchant with two enslaved men in hilly landscape
Painter: anonymous
Year:
-
Medium: oil on canvas
Description: A Dutch man and an Asian woman walk side by side, followed by two handcuffed enslaved men. The woman wears a sarong and kebaja and holds a cloth in her left hand. The man wears a red knee-length coat called justaucorps in Europe. The very low-set pockets (pocket flaps) are typical of fashion in the early eighteenth century. The wide, turned-back cuffs that these types of coats often have are absent here. The man wears a belt around his waist from which hangs a short sword. Under the coat he wears long indigo-colored pants with garters below the knee. He also wears a hat, neckerchief, a rattan walking stick and, as the only one in the company, shoes decorated with silver buckles. The two enslaved men wear a shawl around the waist, one of them a shawl and both a white cloth around the head. It is not clear whether they are men of African or Asian origin. The procession is concluded by three Asian men acting as guards for the enslaved men. The guards wear blue clothing with a series of buttons on the front. A short sword hangs from a leather belt around their waists. One of the guards wears a large flat round sun hat and holds a spear. The rear guard points to something behind the company, possibly the house in the background. The company is depicted in a tropical mountain landscape, possibly in Indonesia or India. A cross has been scratched through the faces of the man and woman with a sharp object. All around is a frame painted in dark green. In original wooden frame.
