Auctions and the Distribution of Silks in the Eighteenth-Century United Provinces

Overview & Synopsis

Voluntary auction sales were widespread in the eighteenth-century United Provinces. This chapter investigates the role Dutch East India Company (VOC) auctions and Amsterdam broker auctions played in the distribution chains of silk products. Once or twice a year, the East India Company auctioned bales of Bengali and Chinese raw silk, as well as all sorts of fabrics, clothes and accessories, such as Japanese dressing gowns, shawls and other popular trappings. The Amsterdam sworn brokers also frequently organized auctions of silks in smaller lots on behalf of individual wholesalers. Analysis of those who participated at these auctions reveals that the market for raw silks and recently imported high-quality cloth was dominated by influential middlemen, such as sworn and illicit brokers and wholesalers who acted as commission agents for domestic and foreign merchants. At the lower end of the market, Amsterdam broker auctions were used to dispose of second-choice and damaged commodities.Among the bidders for damaged goods and cheap accessories such as handkerchiefs, two groups stand out: female shopkeepers and Ashkenazi merchants and clothes sellers.These retailers seem to have played a vital role in increasing the consumption of silk items among the non-elites.