Name/TitleShip Captain’s Almanac and Notebook from the Delft chamber of the VOC
About this objectA devotional VOC almanac/notebook of the Dutch East India Company with VOC-D monogram. The Almanac is for the year 1794 and, therefore, the printing and binding date was 1793.
VOC notebooks were prestigious items that served as business gifts for relations of VOC directors. Because these notebooks were also awarded to VOC captains and commanders for courage or outstanding achievements, these are also referred to as VOC captain's books. VOC notebooks like this are of great rarity as each year the chambers Delft and Rotterdam jointly commissioned only eight copies of this notebook to be supplied by famous silversmith Dirck van Hengel and Company in Amsterdam.
The notebooks start with an almanac and calendar, with detailed information on tides, sunrise and sunset, phases of the moon and the stars, schedules for stagecoaches, mail coaches, and so on. The remainder of the contents is empty pages to make notes, but these are blank in all known examples, because these were considered not a utensil, but a jewellery showpiece.
The binding is made of seal skin, possibly sharkskin, and decorated with silverwork clasps and a silver plate of an East Indiaman with VOC sign under full sail both on the front and on the back. It has a silver pen (“stylus”), which slides through rings in order to close the book.
MakerVOC - Publisher
Maker RoleIssued by
MakerDirck van Hengel - Silversmith
Maker RoleSilversmith
Date Made1793
Period18th century
Place MadeAmsterdam, Netherlands
Medium and MaterialsOctavo, sealskin binding, elaborate silverwork
Object TypeGeneral Interest
Object numberSF001109
Copyright Licence
Attribution - Non-commercial - No Derivatives (cc)
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The mug is decorated with an underglaze and a blue transfer print. On the body, it is titled ‘Emigrants to Australia’. This type of body and glaze was discontinued by 1840. Comparison of the handle shape and the profile of the foot, point to the attribution of manufacture by the Davenport Factory.
Delta was a ship-rigged vessel with two decks and three masts. It was built in Dordrecht, Netherlands in 1839 at the shipyard of Jan Schouten and registered in the same port. Its hull was constructed of oak and sheathed in ‘yellow metal’. Delta was owned by H. van der Sande at the time of its loss and was engaged as a cargo trader.
The Delta carried 29 crew and passengers, while sailing from Melbourne to Batavia in ballast when wrecked at Kenn Reefs on 30 May 1854 whilst under the command of Captain J.G. Kunst. This vessel loss supports the pattern of shipwrecks located on a well-travelled shipping route that was poorly charted until the mid-nineteenth century. The crew of the Delta could see four other shipwrecks at Kenn Reefs at the time of their vessel’s loss.
Important image of a ship associated with Matthew Flinders, that would shortly become one of the most famous early shipwrecks in eastern Australian waters. This is a fine ship’s portrait, by one of the great exponents of the art