Batavia, Sri Lanka and the Coromandel Coast can be quite challenging as Dutch merchants moved their Coromandel Coast furniture to other Dutch settlements in Batavia and even in Sri Lanka. As a result, the decorative elements discussed above were extensively imitated by other craftsmen (Jaffer, 2011). Although comparable examples of chests of this size and decorative quality are very difficult to find, there are two similar extant examples, both in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (see Veenendaal, 1985, p. 62, pl. 54). One of the chests is decorated with brass mounts instead of silver, Accession Number BK-1976-60. Other similar examples but of differing forms and sizes include a Batavian casket, circa 1706, made of amboyna burl wood with ebony and teak which shares similar silver Batavian fittings and mounts as our casket (see Veenendaal, 2014, p. 67, fig. 99). A large ebony cabinet on a stand, circa 1680-1720, (published in Veenendaal, 2014, p. 25, fig. 23), has large lotus floral carvings similar to the flower decoration on our chest. An ebony miniature cabinet on a stand, late 17th / early 18th century, is published in Port Cities (see Lee, p. 158, fig. 90). There is a large ebony four-poster bed, circa 1700, in the Rijksmuseum, Accession Number BK-1994-37, which has large floral motifs carved in relief and according to van Campen this floral decoration was made to fit the style and demands of the senior Dutch officials in Batavia (see van Campen, pp. 54 and 56, fig. 34). Literature: Eliens, T. (ed). Domestic Interiors at the Cape and in Batavia 1602-1795, Waanders Uitgevers Zwolle, Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag, 2002. Jaffer, A., Furniture from British India and Ceylon: A Catalogue of the Collections in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum, Timeless Books, New Delhi, 2001. Jaffer, A. Luxury Goods from India: The Art of the Indian Cabinet-Maker, V&A Publications, London 2002. Lee, P. H. and others. Port Cities: Multicultural Emporiums of Asia, 1500-1900, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, 2016. Terwen-de Loos, J. Het Nederlands Koloniale Meubel, Uitgeverij T. Wever B.V., Franeker, Den Haag, 1985. Van Campen, J. & Hartkamp-Jonxis, E. Asian Splendour: Company Art in the Rijksmuseum, Walburg Pers, Amsterdam, 2011. Veenendal, J., Asian Art and Dutch Taste, Waanders Uitgevers Zwolle, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, 2014. Veenendaal, J., Furniture from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India during the Dutch Period, Foundation Volkenkundig Museum Nusantara, Delft, 1985.
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