Iconographies between Shipwrecks and Resurfacing Trésors

The fair vessel Batavia set sail from the port of Amsterdam on her maiden voyage on 28 October 1628, bound for the small Dutch colony on the isle of Java, only to be miserably shipwrecked on the outcropping rocks of the Houtman Abrolhos islands, a few miles from Australia. This tragedy was followed by an even more calamitous event, with the mutiny of Captain Ariaen Jacobsz and part of the crew to seize possession of the precious hoard destined for the countries of the East, and in particular the India of the ‘Great Mogor’. In 1969, three centuries later, the site of the shipwreck was located, and as from 1972 a successful series of submarine archaeological campaigns were carried out by the Department of Maritime Archaeology, Western Australian Museum, to retrieve not only parts of the body of the ship, but also a number of the precious objects. There were silver plates and dishes, vases and bowls and various other items, which F. Pelsaert from the VOC had commissioned for the rich market of the Mughal nobility, probably on their way to the Emperor Jahangir himself. The aim of this article is to offer an analysis of these scenes from the iconographic point of view, with particular focus on the dress displayed by the figures. The scenes were suggested by descriptions provided by Pelsaert himself, and still reveal a lack of real knowledge of the Indian practices and customs, looking rather to the examples of the chinoiserie in vogue at the time.