Bazaar in Banten - De Bry c.1598

Title: Accurata Designatio Bazar Sive Fori in Bantam (Accurate Designation of the Bazaar or Market in Bantam)
Cartographer: After Willem Lodewijcksz / Engraved by the De Bry family
Published: Frankfurt, c. 1598–1601
Technique: Copperplate engraving

Description: This extraordinary engraving offers a detailed, bird's-eye view of the Great Market (Bazaar) of Bantam (Banten), Java. It is based on the firsthand observations of Willem Lodewijcksz, who accompanied Cornelis de Houtman on the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies (1595–1597).

The print is a masterpiece of ethnographic documentation, meticulously labeling various sections of the market with letters (A through Z and beyond). Each letter corresponds to a specific trade or commodity, including:

• The Poultry and Fruit Markets

• The Pepper Trade area (the primary draw for the Dutch)

• The Chinese Quarter, showing the significant presence of Chinese merchants in the region long before European arrival.

• The Weapons and Metalworking sections

The foreground is filled with a lively array of merchants, townspeople, and foreign traders, providing a window into the diverse and sophisticated social structure of the Bantam Sultanate. This specific engraving was popularized by the De Bry family for their famous Petits Voyages series, which introduced the wonders of the East to the European public.

• Authenticity: Original late 16th or early 17th-century copperplate engraving.

• Historical Significance: One of the earliest and most accurate visual records of Javanese commerce and urban life.

• Details: Features the characteristic Latin title banner and complex architectural layouts.

Published between 1590 and 1608, from Minor Voyages of Theodore and Johannes de Bry, depicting a bazaar in Banten, Indonesia