Sunken Treasures

The Princessehof will present the exhibition Sunken Treasures from 7 September 2019 to 30 August 2020. The exhibition features ceramics and other objects found aboard eight shipwrecks dating from the ninth to the nineteenth century. The ceramic treasures tell fascinating stories about the Maritime Silk Road in Asia and reveal a hitherto unknown world of international trade and exchange.

Ships from all over the world sailed the Maritime Silk Road for centuries in search of pepper, silk and porcelain. Sometimes the ships that perished lie on the seabed for centuries as time capsules. The wrecks and certainly the well-preserved ceramics provide a trove of information.

World trade
The ship San Diego demonstrates that Spain was already a major player in international trade around 1600. It sank during a battle because it was overloaded with cannon, ammunition and provisions. Salvage operations revealed that the San Diego contained products from all over the world. For example, the Kraak porcelain in its hold was purchased from Chinese traders in the port of Manila. The Dutch VOC ship Witte Leeuw sank thirteen years later, after attacking two Portuguese vessels. Greed cost the Dutch their lives: the powder room exploded and the merchandise aboard ended up at the bottom of the sea, a great loss for the VOC.

Treasure hunters
Because of their valuable cargo, shipwrecks are very appealing to commercial diving companies. In the 1980s, an auction of ceramics retrieved from the Asian Hatcher wreck and the VOC ship Geldermalsen generated millions. However, most of the information about the ships and crew was lost during the salvage operation. This auction resulted in stricter legislation on underwater archaeology in the Netherlands. Maritime archaeologist Martijn Manders illustrates the importance of careful underwater archaeology with the recent salvage of the Rooswijk off the English coast.