Album met 116 tekeningen, hoofdzakelijk portretten, vervaardigd op Ceylon

This album containing 116 drawings, mainly portraits, was made on Ceylon by Esaias Boursse in the 17th century. Boursse was employed by the Dutch East India Company, known as the VOC. It was a powerful trading organization that held a monopoly over trade in Asia. The VOC used art as a tool of cultural diplomacy. Dutch artists were encouraged to depict the people, landscapes, and customs of the countries where the VOC operated. These images served to inform and impress the European public, but they also helped the VOC to assert its dominance over local populations. These portraits of local people, therefore, reveal some things about the culture, but they also demonstrate the power of the Dutch trading company in Ceylon, and the unequal relationship between colonizer and colonized. Understanding the social context is vital to a more complete understanding of art. We might consult archival records, travel accounts, and other historical documents.