Underwater discoveries
Conservation and analysis of metal objects recovered from the wrecks of the VOC (Dutch East India Company)
The Rijksmuseum has a large collection of artefacts recovered from VOC shipwrecks, including hundreds of metal objects that require immediate stabilisation and treatment. The conservation of the collection also provides an exceptional opportunity for scientific research.
About this project
The Netherlands has played an important role in the world’s maritime history. To reflect this, a large part of the Rijksmuseum’s permanent exhibition is devoted to the subject. This collection, recovered from nine different 17th and 18th century shipwrecks, is invaluable for understanding Dutch and maritime history. A shipwreck is a time capsule with a direct link to the world as it was when the ship went down. Its contents record the physical, technological, and political interactions taking place in the world at that moment, providing information and insights that cannot be obtained in any other way.
Aim of the project
The fragile state of the objects recovered from these shipwrecks dictates that most of them remain in the museum’s storage facilities. The main objective of the project is to conserve this vulnerable collection in order to make it available to the public and preserve it for the future. The collection is currently involved in several research projects in and outside the museum. An international consortium of experts has been established to place the objects in a broader context, made possible by visualisation, documentation, conservation, and scientific examination.
Staff
Tamar Davidowitz
Metal Conservator
t.davidowitz@rijksmuseum.nl
Ellen van Bork
Metal Conservator
e.van.bork@rijksmuseum.nl
Jeroen ter Brugge
Curator for Maritime Collections
j.ter.brugge@rijksmuseum.nl
Partners and sponsors
For this project we work together with:
- Nationaal Archief
- University of Western Australia
- Western Australian Martime Museum
- University of Zadar
Related projects
Publications
- T. Davidowitz, et al, 'Conservation and examination of an iconic 17th-century pewter object: The Hartog Plate’s history revealed through synchrotron analysis.' Metal 2019: Proceedings of the Interim Meeting of the ICOM-CC Metal Working Group, Neuchatel: ICOM-CC and HE-Arc CR, Switzerland (2-6 September 2019), pp. 108-116.
- I.D. Macleod, T. Davidowitz, D. Howard, D. Paterson, D. Thurrowgood, D. Hallam, D. Creagh, 'Decay induced by manufacture and environment: Synchrotron revelations on the Hartog (1616) plate.' Corrosion and Prevention Conference 2019 of the Australasian Corrosion Association, Melbourne, (24th -27th November 2019).