Petrus Regout's Ceramics

Date: 1800s (17th Century)

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Caption Bahasa Indonesia

A plate base fragment with the inscription Petrus Regout & Co was produced by the 17th-century Maastricht ceramic company Petrus Regout & Co. The Mardi Kawi’s Javanese script that reads

“pé- re gu; hen- ko; ma- se- tri- k” on the ceramic suggests that it was specifically for the Indonesian market.

the Mardi Kawi’s Javanese script that reads “pé- re gu; hen- ko; ma- se- tri- k”

More information:

Petrus Dominicus Regout (1801-1878), commonly known as Petrus Regout, was a businessman from Maastricht who became the richest man in Limburg Province at the time. Starting from helping in his mother's ceramic shop, Petrus Regout then started his own glassware production business and in 1830 when the Belgian Revolution began, he was forced to reduce his glassware production. This prompted Petrus Regout to build an iron and ceramic factory, which later became known as Petrus Regout's "Maastricht" ceramics.

Portrait painting of the Maastricht entrepreneur Petrus Laurentius Regout (1801-1878)

Source: Guy M.H. Regout & Norbert Regout (1966/1996): Généalogie de la famille Regout, a painting piece by: Mathias Heinrich Windhausen (1857-1922)

The presence of Petrus Regout "Maastricht" ceramics in Indonesia is quite significant. A ceramic with blue decoration found in Sumatra is a ceramic from Petrus Regout in the 1840s which is an imitation of Chinese ceramics, this is evidence that Petrus Regout tried to enter and adapt to the Indonesian market. Some European ceramic manufacturers have their own trademark stamp, one of those ceramics is Petrus Regout, which has a stamp on the base/ underside of the ceramic part that reads "Petrus Regout Maastricht" in Kawi Javanese script, which also indicates that the ceramics are intended for the Indonesian market; especially Java.

Regarding the distribution aspect, Petrus Regout's ceramics aren't distributed directly by the manufacturer. Instead, they use the services of middlemen or trading companies that offer export-import services. One of the trading companies that help the distribution of ceramics and porcelain wares in the Dutch-East Indies is the J. Speet trading company located in Batavia. It is likely that Petrus Regout ceramics in Semarang were also distributed by a similar trading company.

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