Claes Grill was a Swedish merchant, factory owner and ship-owner. He was director of the Grill Trading House, one of the leading companies in the East India trade through the Swedish East India Company (SOIC). The trading house also ran a banking business and owned several ironworks in Sweden. Grill also owned several estates, was interested in natural science and had a brief and unsuccessful political career.
Claes Grill is always depicted with his left profile. The other side of his face was scarred and he was one-eyed.
The Grill House at Stortorget, Stockholm
Svindersvik, interior
Swedish East India Company
The Swedish East India Company was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with India, China and the Far East. The venture was inspired by the success of the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company. This made Gothenburg a European Centre of trade in eastern products. The main goods were black pepper, spices, silk, tea, furniture, porcelain, precious stones and other distinctive luxury items. Trade with India and China saw the arrival of some new customs in Sweden. The cultural influence increased, and tea, rice, arrack and new root vegetables started appearing in Swedish homes.
The small seal of the SOIC during the last octroi (government charter)
The East India House at Norra Hamngatan in Gothenburg, Sweden, built by Det svenske Ostindiska kompaniet in 1750. The inscription on the frieze states: "This Building was erected in the year of 1750 by the East India Comp. The Gothenburg museum remodeled it for its collections in the year of 1895".
Porcelain sugar bowl made in China c. 1770–90, imported by the SOIC, City Museum of Gothenburg
Colin Campbell (1686–1757), co-founder and director of the SOIC
