I cannot talk of Indochina, of French iron or of the 1930s, but none of the
remarks are surprising to me. The English East India Company exported
Swedish iron to India in the 18th century. This was apparently "Gothenburg"
iron (from central Sweden), rather than the (better) Stockholm iron or the
even better Oregrounds (Orgrund) iron, whose best marks (brands) were highly
prized for conversion to steel.
The English East India Company sent it to all four of their main factories,
Madras, Bengal, Bombay and Bencoolen (the latter in Java, I think), at least
by the 1730s - my collection of data is less systematic earlier. The
quantity varied but grew with time, often under 100 tons per year in the
17th century, but commonly 400-500 tons in the 1720s and 1730s, less in the
1770s and 1780s, but over 1000 tons in some years in the late 1740s and late
1790s. The British export trade to India grew in the late 18th century,
becoming less dependent on the export of bullion. A dense commodity such as
iron would be useful for providing a ballast for cargoes of lighter goods
Canton was generally not among the destinations, but the Swedish East India
Company is likely to have cornered that trade. However, since it was based
in Gothenburg, the Swedish Company is likely to have exported iron that came
down the river Göta, rather than Stockholm iron but one never knows.
Before the advent of mass-produced mild steel following Bessemer's
innovation, the metal sent would have been wrought iron, not steel.
However, I would not have expected it to be packed in barrels. The bars
were often 12-15 feet long and it would be difficult to make large enough
barrels.
The preference for Swedish rather than English iron would be because most
English iron was made from ironstone from the coal measures, which tended to
have a phosphorus content that rendered it coldshort (brittle when cold).
Most Swedish iron was 'tough' and not liable to this defect. From the
1730s, the English Navy Board bought iron for the Royal Naval dockyards.
This was almost all oregrounds iron. In the 1800s, after some 2nd
oregrounds had broken, trials were carried out between it and British
puddled iron, leading to significant quantities of that being bought and the
use of Swedish iron apparently ceasing in about 1808. Puddled iron would be
rolled, rather than forged, which probably gave it its better qualities.
Peter King
49, Stourbridge Road,
Hagley,
Stourbridge
West Midlands
DY9 0QS
01562-720368
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Arch-Metals Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
Donald B. Wagner
Sent: 17 July 2010 09:19
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Swedish iron in Southeast Asia
Hello -
There is some information on import of Swedish iron to China here:
C. F. Liljevalch: Chinas handel, industri og
statsförfattning, jemte underrättelser om
chinesernes folkbildning, seder och bruk (. . .),
Stockholm 1848, pp. 117-126.
He says that import of Swedish iron to Canton had
earlier been important, but now is only sporadic.
[I am sure that is because of English
competition.] He says older Chinese smiths knew
about Swedish iron and considered it superior to
all others. He also says the English smiths in
the English shipyards in Canton insisted on
Swedish iron, would use neither Chinese nor
English iron.
There is a fair amount of literature in Swedish
on Swedish trade with Asia. If you have some way
of using it I can dig out the references for you.
There are a few relevant publications in English here:
http://www.jernkontoret.se/ladda_hem_och_bestall/publikationer/bergshistoria
/skriftser/index.php
and here:
http://www.jernkontoret.se/ladda_hem_och_bestall/publikationer/bergshistoria
/rapporter/index.php
Note especially this, which I have not seen:
Karl-Gustaf Hildebrand: Swedish Iron in the
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Export
Industry before the Industrialization. 1992. 183
pp.
Another I haven't seen: T. J. Arne: La Suéde et l'Orient, 1914.
You may find something useful in the French
translation of Swedenborg's De Ferro (1734). The
title is Traité du fer, 1762.
The original Latin is here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Vwz2ezucZmQC&dq=intitle%3Aregnum%20intitle%
3Asubterraneum%20inauthor%3A%22emanuel%20swedenborg%22&pg=PP9#v=onepage&q&f=
false
For the economic background of the Swedish iron
industry, but not much about Asian trade, see
numerous books and articles in English and French
by Eli Heckscher, for example through this Google
search;
http://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks:1&tbo=p&q=intitle:Sweden+inauthor:Hecks
cher&num=10
and this one:
http://scholar.google.dk/scholar?as_q=&num=10&btnG=Search+Scholar&as_epq=&as
_oq=&as_eq=&as_occt=title&as_sauthors=heckscher+e&as_publication=&as_ylo=190
0&as_yhi=1960&as_sdt=1.&as_sdts=5&hl=en
Hope this helps.
Regards
Don Wagner
>Dear List,
>
>In the Ventiane (Laos) library of the École française d'Extrême-Orient
>have found a reference to Swedish iron (the description sounds like
>rods of mild steel packed in barrels) being imported to Indochina
>during the late 1930s, and that this trade had existed since the 17th
>century. Apparently the local smiths preferred Swedish to French
>steel, which was too hard. What this means for local iron production
>is my interest. Could someone please give me a pointer as to where I
>could begin to verify this trade, presumably in the Swedish
>literature.
>
>Many thanks in advance for your kind help,
>Oli
>
>--
>Thomas Oliver Pryce PhD AIfA
>
>Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow at the Research Laboratory for
>Archaeology and the History of Art
>(Junior Research Fellow at St Hugh's College)
>Dyson Perrins Building
>South Parks Road
>University of Oxford
>Oxford OX1 3QY
>UK
>
>Telephone: +44 1865 285222
>Websites: http://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/rlaha.html
>and http://www.st-hughs.ox.ac.uk/
>Personal website: https://sites.google.com/site/thomasoliverpryce/
>
>and
>
>Associate Research Member
>Laboratoire UMR 7055 "Préhistoire et Technologie"
>Maison de l'Archéologie et de l'Ethnologie
>21 Allée de l'Université F-92023
>Nanterre
>FRANCE
>
>Tel: +33 1 46 69 25 78
>Website: http://www.mae.u-paris10.fr/siteums/prehistoire0.php
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
dr.phil. Donald B. Wagner
Jernbanegade 9B
DK-3600 Frederikssund
Denmark
Tel. +45-3331 2581
[log in to unmask]
http://staff.hum.ku.dk/dbwagner
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
|
