LAUSR

rarities manufactured at home, but inspired by, and often incorporating material from, the East Indies, like the lacquer work of Willem Kick (fig. 114). This volume focuses on the first half of the seventeenth century, when the Dutch were simultaneously establishing their prowess in world trade and seeking recognition as an independent nation among European powers. While this is a global story, the view here is primarily on voyages east, beginning with Jan Huygen van Linschoten and the first Dutch voyages, through the first half-century of the Dutch East India Company. These parameters encompass a period where commerce and diplomacy are inextricably intertwined, and Dutch profits in Asia set the stage for three more centuries as a colonial power. With such an expansive tale to tell, Swan examines her material through several strategies. After an overview in preface and introduction, chapter 1 examines Amsterdam as an emporium of global goods, and chapter 2 takes us into the homes of Amsterdam’s wealthy to see these goods in use or on display. Chapter 3 examines the networks that brought these goods to collectors. Chapters 4 and 5 consider the movement of emissaries, first foreigners coming to the Netherlands, and then Dutchmen travelling elsewhere. Chapter 6 examines in detail the 1612–13 Dutch gift to the Ottoman sultan, and chapter 7 focuses on one item in that gift, the bird of paradise. Chapter 8 covers the well-known Dutch role in the early modern porcelain trade, but with a twist: Swan demonstrates that many of these items were not, in fact, freely traded, but were booty of Dutch piracy. Several characters appear in multiple chapters, and a thorough index assists the reader to follow them. It’s a sign of the evolving field of Netherlandish studies that the familiar figure of Rembrandt is evoked throughout, when he is but a minor player in this story. Fans of Swan’s work will recognize some of this material— versions of chapters 2, 5, 6, and 8 have been published elsewhere—but it is a delight to have them all in one place.