Peripheral Emporiums – Scandinavian Trade with Asia Goods in
Eighteenth Century Europe
Rational
One characteristic aspect of the Scandinavian trade with Asian goods in the eighteenth century was the
absence of strong domestic markets. There were little demand for exotic goods from the East in the
poor hinterlands of Gothenburg and Copenhagen. Instead most of the stuff imported by the Swedish
East India Company (SOIC) and Danish “Asian Company“ (DAC) was re-exported (between 70% and
90%). This circumstance forms the starting point for my work, which is that a study of the Scandinavian
companies is particularly well suited to illuminate the pan-European market for East Indian goods and
the role of Gothenburg and Copenhagen as peripheral emporiums supplying a wide range of markets.
The concepts of pan-European market and peripheral emporiums are central from several points of
view. First of all they include taking into account aspects largely overlooked in previous research on the
European East India companies, works which mainly have focused on singular companies and their role
in a national context. By using Pan-European and periphery as starting points a set of new questions are
generated, such as: How were quality demands and fashionable trends negotiated not only with distant
producers but also in relation to distant consumers? What role did the annual and sometimes biannual
auctions in Copenhagen and Gothenburg play as events where goods were launched and prices set?
What can the purchasers and the goods for sale tell us about how distant and different consumer
demands were negotiated?
Secondly, the role of the emporiums in the periphery and Pan-European market is relevant in relation to
the role of East Indian goods promoting the production of European substitutes. This link has maybe
best been explored from the point of view of the English East India Company’s trade with South Asia in
the 18th century, and how the ban of import and consumption of Indian cotton in Britain promoted the
development of techniques for printing, spinning and weaving cotton products. Legislation in the same
spirit (of mercantilism) was also introduced in Scandinavia but without strong domestic consumer
demands these laws did not trigger the development of import substitutions and new production
techniques. With more and more legislation at home and abroad banning the import Asian goods, the
Scandinavian companies were to no small amount reduced to provide either more marginal markets or
to sell to smugglers. Adding the Scandinavian trade to the picture will help broaden the discussion of the
effects of the Asian trade on Europe and the centrality of the whole sellers and the end consumers as
well as illuminate the chronology and geography of this development further.
The proposed monograph will mainly (although not exclusively) focus on the trade with Asian goods
once it had arrived to Europe. It will discuss how the Scandinavian imported goods were sold. One
chapter will deal with the auctions in Gothenburg and Copenhagen; a second chapter will deal with the
networks of buyers involved in the trade and what they bought. The following two chapters will focus on
two distinct products; silk textiles and tea, the qualities of which can help us understand the circulation
of Asian goods in Europe. The book ends with a chapter summarising the results from the different
chapters.
Detailed plan:
Introduction:
Chapter 1: The Scandinavian East India Companies
Chapter 2: Retailing Asian Goods in Copenhagen and Gothenburg
Chapter 3: The Purchaser of East Indian Goods
Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Colours in Abundance and Bundles
Chapter 5: The Quality and Politics of tea
Chapter 6: Conclusion
Introduction:
This chapter will outline the main focus of the book along the lines discussed above. The first aim with
the chapter is to situate my interest within a research tradition which focuses on the effects of the Asian
(and global) trade on Europe (and Scandinavia), and on consumption and material culture. The second
aim is to point out the extent to which such a focus has been missing in the existing research on the
Scandinavian companies. On the basis of these discussions I will highlight a number of questions that
arise in relation to the trade of the Scandinavian companies which I will set out to answer in the book.
The chapter will end with a discussion of the layout of the book.


An introduction to research on the role of the consumption of Asian goods in the discussions of:
o The Industrious Revolution, mercantilism, import substitution, and the Industrial
Revolution.
Studies in Scandinavian histories of consumption and production in a global setting:
o E.g. Rydén & Evans (on Iron), Rönnbäck (on Danish West Indian sugar)

The historiography of the Scandinavian East India Companies:
o The focus on the national context and on economic, social and maritime history. Little
on the re-export, the end market/consumption and material culture.
 Exception: Nyström’s study from 1883 (main contribution, a table indicating the
value of the re-exported goods imported by SOIC and where it was exported to).
 No equivalent exists for the Danish material (but for some estimation of the
value of the re-export goods). It is presumed most of the goods was re-exported
to the Dutch Republic.

What happens to the history of Scandinavian Asian trade if we seriously consider the notions of
pan-European markets and peripheral emporium, and focus on material culture?
o What were the implications of having long distances separating
Gothenburg/Copenhagen (or maybe I can invent my own Portmanteau, Gothenhagen...)
from both producers and consumers?

o
o

To which extent did it promote innovations or standardisations of goods and how it
was retailed?
Who operated on this transnational market and what can their purchases (whole sale or
eclectic mixes) tell us about the consumption of East India Goods?
 To which extent did buyers also engage in product development and/or
production of substitute goods?
What were the effects of legislations restricting import and export to different European
markets at the forefront?
 What can a chronology based on the Scandinavian experience of these
restrictions contribute to, illuminating the effects if the Eurasian trade on
Europe?
An outline/explanation of the layout of the rest of the book.
Chapter 1: The Scandinavian East India Companies
The first aim with this chapter is to give the reader an introduction to the Scandinavian East India
Companies and their histories (e.g. when they were founded, where they operated etc.). The second aim
is to argue that, since the companies operated under similar conditions when trading with China and
with Chinese goods, it is possible to analyse aspects of their trade drawing exclusively on e.g. Swedish
material but making conclusions valid for both companies. I will also briefly introduce the source
material I will be using in this manner.

An introduction to the histories of the Scandinavian East India Companies:
o Differences and similarities between the Swedish and the Danish company
 Differences: Scope of trade activity, e.g. DAC’s presence in India and its history and
legacy (the Danish presence in Asia had a longer tradition than the Swedish), the
Dutch presence in the Danish company, the Scottish presence in the Swedish
company.
 Similarities: the neutrality of their host countries and the opportunities to play the
role of interloper, their role in the remittance trade, the proximity to strong
consumer markets, the dependence on the trade in tea and smuggling, meaning
both companies were equally vulnerable to changes in the duty on tea in Britain.
 Very similar in terms of how they traded with China: Chinese trade most important
(post 1730s) in both Denmark and Sweden, also both companies traded in a similar
way.

Conclusion directing the layout of study: In the 18th century and in the trade with China the
Scandinavian companies operated under similar conditions and in a similar manner. This enables me
to discuss the Scandinavian trade more generally although I for certain aspects only have access to
material from one of the companies when drawing my conclusions.

Presentation of the source material from the different companies and countries. Below I have listed
the main material for my investigation:
o
o
o
o
The Irvine archive
Cover the period 1730 and 1770s, however much less interesting after Charles Irvine moved
back to Scotland. Gives insight to the Pan-European trade with East India goods, very rich on
discussions on tea.
Swedish sales catalogues (printed and annotated with info on prices and buyers)
1733, 1736, 1742, 1743, 1745, 1747, 1748, 1749, 1751, 1752, 1753, 1754, 1755, 1756, 1757,
1758, 1759 (Riksarkivet, Stockholm, scans ordered). There is one more annotated catalogue
from SOIC in Copenhagen from 1735 (with textile samples in it!).
Danish Sales Catalogues (printed and annotated with info on prices and buyers)
1753-1757, but not complete, and most of them with mainly Indian material. Only 1756
sales catalogue containing list of goods from China.
Negotiation protocols
From the Danish expeditions to China from the 1730s and onwards, detailed information on
what they ordered and got from Chinese merchants, including e.g. qualities of silk, colours
etc. and quantities and qualities of tea etc.
Chapter 2: Retailing Asian Goods in Copenhagen and Gothenburg
The focus in this chapter is on the role of Copenhagen and Gothenburg as peripheral emporiums. One
aim with the chapter is to locate Copenhagen and Gothenburg on the European market for Asian goods,
a market which due to seasonal changes (determined by the long distances the goods had travelled, as
well as shifting proportions of goods brought to Europe by the other companies) regularly changed.
Another aim is to discuss the role of the auctions more generally as events when prices were set and
new product launched. The auctions have received little attention by historians and here especially the
Swedish archives offers some quite unique material with which to study them.

Background: Histories of Copenhagen and Gothenburg as trading ports/emporiums
o The role of Gothenburg as the gateway of to the West
o The role of Copenhagen, controlling the Sound

Background: Histories of Auctions
o Tradition of selling goods on auctions and different types of auctions
o Auctions as a places to launch fashion
o Auctions and tax/duty

The East India auctions
o Storing and logistics:

One needs to take into account the storing capacities of different East India
Companies and how it influenced the selling of goods. E.g. EIC in London had
vast storage capacities and a huge infra structure.
 DAC had a small office built with some storing facilities 1738-39, but it
was too small and replaced with a bigger building in 1748-50.
 SOIK had smaller magazines scattered around town, in 1752 the first
part of larger complex was finished (burned down 1758). Before the
Swedish company built a warehouse the goods were on display in
different merchant houses (Sebastian von Tham, Olbers Stein, Hans O.
Ström, Lagerström, Thorntorn, Joh. Friedrish Bruun).
o
Timing and frequency
 EIC had regular (quarterly auctions?) for its goods, whole sellers living in
London, negotiated with the company on quantities and qualities of goods
brought in. The Scandinavian companies with some exception organised annual
auctions, upon the arrival of their East India men.
 What can the number and regularity tell us about the role of
Copenhagen and Gothenburg as emporiums for East Indian goods?
 What can the timing tell us about the role of the Scandinavian auctions
in distributing the season’s East Indian goods? (The cargo from the first
ships of the seasons reaching Europe caught higher prices).
o
Auctions as social events, launching products and setting prices
 The Scandinavian auctions were largely once- a-year events to which merchants
arrived (travellers arriving to Gothenburg are listed in local newspapers, some
which are searchable online, sometimes specifying there are there for the
auctions). It would e.g. be possible to estimate the number of people visiting the
auctions using the annotated auction catalogues and newspapers. Source
material relating to households/building in which the goods were on display
could also be used to give the auctions a space/geography.
 What role did the Scandinavian auctions have testing products and
setting prices? Here I am planning to use comments on how new
products sold and what goods generally sold for (from the Irvine letters,
auction catalogues, Clifford correspondence in the EIC archive reporting
back on auctions in Scandinavia to London).
Chapter 3: The Purchasers of East Indian Goods
This chapter will focus on the buyers at the auctions. Here the Swedish and the Danish material offer
quite a unique opportunity to illuminate the whole sale of East India goods. From the annotated sales
catalogues I can identify the buyers of goods at the Gothenburg auctions in the 1730s, 40s and 50s. I
have similar material for one of the Copenhagen auctions. On the basis of this I am planning to write
mini-biographies of the most interesting buyers (e.g. the ones who operated in both Copenhagen and
Gothenburg, the ones who attended most auctions, the purchasers of the largest amount of goods,
purchasers of raw material used in product development). The number of mini-biographies will depend
on the amount of research necessary to compile them. I will also focus on the purchasers of tea and silk
as a way to prepare the ground for the next two chapters.

Background: Histories of merchant houses and merchant communities in Scandinavia and
particularly in Copenhagen and Gothenburg
o Scottish merchant networks
o Dutch connections

The buyers at the auction in Copenhagen and Gothenburg:
o Numbers of buyers at each auction
o Continuity – which buyers returned to the auctions regularly (only in the Swedish case)
 Mini-biographies
o Scandinavian overlaps - buyers operating in both Copenhagen and Gothenburg (could
be problematic to establish exactly since merchants bought on commission)
 Mini-biographies

Buyers and goods
o The most frequent and prolific buyers of different types of goods (of silk, porcelain, and
tea) and of purchasers of goods used in product development of import substitutes
(e.g. mother of pearl or raw silk).
 Mini-biographies
Chapter 4: Colours in Abundance and Bundles
In this third empirical chapter I will focus on material culture and more specifically silk textiles and the
colours this textile came in. Silk was not the most important of the goods imported from China to
Scandinavia but as a “source material” it provides a short cut into issues about markets and
consumption. I am going to discuss both qualitative and quantitative aspects. Firstly I am going to
discuss the etymology of the nomenclature (drawing on the Svenska Academiens Ordbok and Ordbog
over det danske Sprog) to highlight the global, European and national trajectory of the names used in
referring to colours of silk fabrics.
I will then discuss the changing diversity of colours of silk on offer, the introduction of new colours and
how this can illuminate the role Chinese silk contributing or responding to European fashion trends.
Here I am hoping to work jointly with Chris identifying discrepancies and overlaps with the colours of silk
for sale in the Dutch republic. I will also discuss the prices for different compilation of coloured material.
Here one hypothesis is the more colour variation the higher price but there seems to be scope to look
other aspects, such as for example the prices “new” colours caught.

Background: the material qualities of silk
o
o
Different qualities of silk
The silk fibre and its absorption of dyes

Background: The consumption of silk and its history in Europe.
o Silk , fashion, and colours – trends and fashion in Europe
o Import restrictions of silk material for domestic use
 The Swedish import was regulated at different times, the first time it had an
effect was for the auction of 1749.
 There seems to have been no restriction on import of silk to Denmark

Qualities and colours of silk for sale in Copenhagen and Gothenburg
o Nomenclature of colour
 Names of colours in a Scandinavian context and their etymology
 European and global geography of colours
 Together with Chris comparing names used in the Dutch and English
company
 Colours terms used in contact with Chinese merchants
o Diversity of colours for sale
 Look at the growing (?) diversity or standardisation of colours of silk textiles
 Comparing with colours of silk for sale in the Dutch republic/EIC
o Diversity and price
 Comparing prices for bundles of silk textiles with compilation of different
colours
Chapter 5: Handling Tea - Quality and Politics
The role tea played in the Scandinavian trade with China and Britain is fairly well known. The monopoly
of the English East India Company and the high import duties on tea in Britain made it a very lucrative to
smuggle tea into Britain. This was also were a lot of the Scandinavian imported tea from China ended
up, something which also explains the decline of the Scandinavian East Indian Companies post the
Communication Act of 1784 when the British duties on tea was significantly lowered. However, such an
account fails to acknowledge that the tea from China came in a wide range of qualities. In this chapter it
is the qualities of tea that will form the focal point.
One possible line of argument would be to use Mui and Mui’s study (on the latter part of the 18th
century) on the quite elaborate system developed by the EIC providing the British tea market, as a
starting point. One of their arguments is that the monopoly worked quite well in supplying the British
consumer with tea, and that it generated system of supply lines and quality controls stretching between
Canton and the London ware houses.
A not very systematic reading of the Irvine correspondence suggest that the trade in tea in companies
(SOIC) providing smuggler with goods also developed quite elaborate system for distinguishing qualities
and tea sorts. The same is notable in the sales catalogues and might also be possible to analyse further
by studying the negotiation protocols from DAC concerned with the tea trade in Canton.
There might also be scope to highlight product development involving tea products including how it was
package. The Swedish company for example sold a lot of tea packed in decorated porcelain canisters.
As you can see this is the chapter I thought least about.

Background: buying and selling tea
o EIC and tea purchasing in China
o Supplying the British market
 London trade
 Smuggling

The Scandinavian tea trade
o Quantity
o Qualities and types
o Systems for tracing origins of tea

Product developments involving tea.
Chapter 6: Conclusion
Needless to say conclusions are hard to make at this stage. Nonetheless I think it can be worth pointing
in a few directions in which I think I can go just to get an idea of where (in which research field) I might
end up and to which extent I will have something new and interesting to contribute with.
The summary could be divided into two sections, one discussion the geography of the Scandinavian
trade with East India goods and one discussing the chronology of this trade.
The geography have first of all a global dimension to it, with silk and tea moving between Canton and
Gothenburg/Copenhagen in response to demands and trends located largely (although not exclusively)
outside Scandinavia and China. The colour of silk for sale in Scandinavia reflected European demands,
negotiated with Chinese merchants and defined (or named) to work within a Pan-European setting
where France was maybe the most important trend setter. The qualities of tea brought in were in
response to demands from British consumers and retailers, who bought smuggled goods as an
alternative to the tea brought in and sold by EIC. The system developed to monitor quality to satisfy
British costumers created a system which shadowed the way tea was processed by the EIC. The agents
involved also illuminate the pan-European dimension to the trade with East Indian goods. They
operated in a transnational manner, distributing the Scandinavian imported Asian goods from the
peripheral emporiums of Copenhagen and Gothenburg to around Europe.
Radically lowered import duties on tea spelled the death of the Scandinavian companies towards the
end of the 18th century. By then the diversity of goods brought in from the East had also diminished a
development which reflected the growth in legislation protecting domestic manufacturers from Asian
competition. Comparing the diminishing variety of goods for offer at the Scandinavian auctions at the
beginning of the period (1730) and the end, the contrast is indicative of the conditions under which
Scandinavian companies operated being dependent on access to markets and consumers largely outside
the realm of the states in which they had their head quarters. Although wars and remittance trade
allowed the companies to flower for shorter periods in the second half of the 18th century there was no
material momentum in Scandinavia due to the lack of domestic consumers. However the trade of the
Scandinavian companies helped standardise goods, qualities of tea and colours of silk, during a period
when the trade between Asia and Europe expanded. The annual sale at the Scandinavian auctions was
also an integrated part of the Pan-European market, sensitive to seasonable changes.