Divers have found an almost perfectly preserved dress in the remains of a ship that sank off the coast of the Netherlands in the 1600s. Researchers are trying to figure out who this outfit belonged to.
Around 1650, off the Dutch island of Tessel, a merchant ship sank with goods, passengers and a very expensive silk satin dress that would be admired a century later. Soon, its remains were buried by the sand, and in 2014, Dutch amateur divers found treasures forgotten for centuries, including a silver dress, book covers and, as it turned out, women’s toiletries from the 17th century, writes The New York Times.
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The wreck is known as the “Palm” because of the type of wood found in its ruins. They were found in the Wadden Sea, the tidal zone of the North Sea. Since then, the wreck has been exhibited in the museum, but the riddle of the silk dress was left unattended. Who owned the clothes? Where was the ship heading? And who was on board?
The answers may be hidden under the shadow of the water.
Dresses and other items are on display at the Kaap Skil Museum on Tesel Island, a Dutch island about 97 kilometers north of Amsterdam. Today, less than 14,000 inhabitants live there.
Corina Gordijk, artistic director of this museum and three others on the island, shares: “The idea that this dress has been lying on the bottom of the sea for centuries is crazy. The last person to touch it was probably the person who wore it. in this century.”
Location of the sunken ship
Photo: Prospector
It is believed that the dresses were made around 1620, and at the time of the accident they were about 30 years old. The researchers also agree that the shock dress had a wider waist and probably belonged to an older woman. The silver dress could have been a wedding dress, meaning they both had different owners.
Arnold van Bruggen, director of an upcoming television documentary about the ship, said: “These dresses were incredibly expensive. They would not have been seen outside of royal court circles.”
Usually clothes and objects provide us with more information about that period, as well as complement our understanding of the women of that time. The researchers, having studied the found objects in more detail, formed three theories.
All of them indicate that the owners of the dresses belong to the highest circles. However, all the details have not yet been studied.
One version is that the clothes belonged to a theater troupe that had fled England.
The second, based on research by an Oxford University historian, is that the clothes, like other things, belonged to the late wife of the ambassador, who was returning to England from Constantinople.
The third is that the objects belonged to a wealthy Eastern European family that fled the Thirty Years’ War.
The researchers also believe that the ship could have been a merchant ship that also carried people and their luggage. In those days, sea transportation served as a salvation for people fleeing the Puritan revolution in England.
All of them indicate that the owners of the dresses belong to the highest circles.
The researchers hope that they will be able to study the found ship and the area around the place where it was found in more detail. However, everything depends on the Dutch government.
Diving expeditions are usually time consuming and expensive, and due to bad weather and lack of funding, such expeditions take place once or twice a year. And to raise the ship itself, it will take years.
Another complication is to ensure the storage and study of items that divers can find on the bottom of the sea. Researchers have now covered the wreck with netting to protect it from erosion and other damage. This could keep him alive for a decade.
Be that as it may, this particular ship is extraordinary and may contain many more historical gems. However, they are not always easy to find and explore.
Previously, Focus talked about the accident that could change history. One of the United Kingdom’s most famous shipwrecks nearly claimed the life of the future King of England.
