Batavia Ware and its Relation to Coffee

Batavia ware, also known as Capuchin Ware, is a type of Chinese porcelain characterized by a brown iron oxide exterior glaze and a white interior. Batavia ware was especially popular in the early eighteenth century, when export quantities to Europe reached their highest levels.

Interestingly, Batavia ware was rarely exported directly from China to Europe, but rather first to the city of Batavia (modern day Jakarta, Indonesia) on the island of Java. It is from this city that this style of porcelain gained its name, as members of the Dutch East India Company stationed there used the city’s name as shorthand for the wares. After their purchase on the island of Java, Batavia ware items would then be shipped to Europe by the Dutch East India Company, where they would then find their place in homes, shops, taverns, or be further exported to the British Isles or North America. The Dutch were big players in the European coffee trade. The Dutch colonies in Java and Suriname were the largest suppliers of coffee to Europe for a time.

Batavia ware quickly became popular among the members of the Dutch East India Company, since it was readily available and relatively affordable compared to other types of Chinese porcelain. For this reason, Batavia ware became very popular among the middle classes of Europe and was seen as an article suitable for everyday use. Though its accessibility was certainly a factor in Batavia ware’s popularity with the Dutch East India Company, its relation to the coffee trade may have also played an important role in the phenomenon.

For the soldiers and employees of the Dutch East India Company stationed in Batavia, coffee would have been a staple of everyday life; they would have overseen the production of coffee on plantations in Java, shipped the coffee to Europe, and consumed coffee routinely. Batavia ware would have been a natural choice of ceramic for someone so involved in the coffee trade. The iron oxide exterior glaze seen in Batavaia Ware pieces creates a deep, lustrous brown color that closely resembles the shade of a freshly brewed cup of coffee.

Sherds of Batavia ware excavated during the Summer 2025 archaeological field school at the Colonel Paul Wentworth House.

The shades of brown in Batavia ware vary greatly, with the lightest of browns referred to as “café au lait,” French for “coffee with milk.” Knowing this, it comes as no surprise that Batavia ware was the chosen ceramic for many European coffee houses. 

As is the case with many types of Chinese export porcelain, the rise of mass-produced European ceramics, such as creamware, led to the gradual decline of Batavia ware in European and North American life.