Microstructures of global trade
Porcelain acquisitions through private networks for Augustus the Strong
In 1716 the Saxon-Polish elector-king Augustus the Strong sent the Italian officer Peter Robert Taparelli, Count of Lagnasco (1659-1735) to The Hague to buy East Asian porcelain. The correspondence relating to the Dutch East India Company gives detailed insights into the trading situation in the Netherlands. The transcribed letters allow conclusions to be drawn about the availability of Asian goods, the competition between buyers, prices and trade networks, as well as the objects that were purchased for the king. This publication examines the importance of private traders and their role in supplying the Saxon court with East Asian luxury goods. -- arthistoricum.net
