During the period 1602 and 1800 ships from the Dutch East India Company made over 5000 grueling trips to Asia in search of spices, over that time (good link) only four ships were wrecked and three went missing on the WA coastline, not all went down with the ship, survivors thought to be some of the first European settlers.. The frantically busy harbour scene in the incroyable painting below captured my imagination.. isn't it spectacular, you can almost hear the din.. I think this is an Amsterdam harbour scene, I really should have recorded the details!
Below the quiet dignity of the Aboriginal and Malay depictions of a two masted steamship, possibly the comings and goings of the SS Xantho before she sank in 1872..
... and here it is, the pewter plate that was nailed to a post by Dutch mariner Willem de Vlamingh who arrived in 1697, 81 years after Dirk Hartog. Hartog nailed the original pewter plate to record his arrival on the 25th October 1616, the first recorded European landing on WA soil. That plate, returned to Amsterdam by Vlamingh is now in the Rijksmusuem. Hope that you're having a good weekend, take care and stay safe...
I find this is all so fascinating! Those were incredible years and whatever we think of the men involved and their motivations and their treatment of the natives, they were driven by greed or the desire for fame or ... to accomplish some very difficult feats of endurance.
ReplyDeleteLoved your photos...especially of the paintings of the ships in the harbor.
The glory days of the clipper & galleon! Incredible voyages & I love the first scene!
ReplyDeleteThose were brave men that attempted to cross the seas without the knowledge and technology we have today!
ReplyDeleteI think the men got the fame they desired but it cost a lot of them their lives. Explorers back in those days were brave.
ReplyDeleteFascinating doesn't begin to cover it!
ReplyDeleteEmpires built on trade.
ReplyDeleteFascinating was the first thing that came to my head too, Grace!
ReplyDeleteThat is one busy harbour. Given the ships relied on wind power, how they did not all crash into one another, I do not know. Skilled sailors, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteYou've given us so much to dram on, G!
ReplyDeleteHaving visited Amsterdam and visited the Rijksmuseum not long ago this feels familiar. But these people were a long way from home.
ReplyDeleteThe Dutch may come back and claim you!
ReplyDeleteExcellent history.
Interesting post, full of history...
ReplyDeleteWarm hug from Titti
It is still amazing they could cross the oceans with those ships and even returned to Amsterdam again with all the spices we didn't know here. The Dutch have always been an inquisitive folk and still are, they like to travel the world. When we are in another country, far away or close by, we always meet other Dutch, they are everywhere....
ReplyDeleteFascinating history of exploration and trade. They must have been very brave men to embark in those tiny ships and sail into the unknown. Or perhaps they craved adventure.
ReplyDeleteNice to know about history:)
ReplyDeleteThis so reminds me of the Auswandererhaus (house of emigrants) in Bremen - you´d love it, Grace.
ReplyDeleteThey rebuilt scenes where you can just walk through and get a feeling how it must´ve been back then, travelling.
What wonderful pieces you photographed for us. That painting made me thing of what it's like on the streets of New York or the financial district in London. Crazy busy and noisy. The age of the pewter plate is mind boggling.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me the flying dutchman legend....Arianna
ReplyDeleteI'd enjoy visiting this exhibit, Grace!
ReplyDeleteFabulous post Grace ...
ReplyDeleteThank you.
All the best Jan
Such interesting history.
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