Fragment rib van een rund uit het wrak van de Oost-Indiëvaarder Hollandia before 1748

This fragment of a cow rib comes to us from the wreckage of the Dutch East Indiaman Hollandia. Sunk in 1749, the ship and its contents bear witness to the vast infrastructure of global trade. The rib, once part of a living animal, speaks to the immense scale of provisioning that fueled the age of exploration. Think of the labor involved, not only in raising and slaughtering the animal, but also in preserving the meat for such long voyages. Salted beef was a staple, and bones like this one would have been discarded after the meat was consumed, becoming refuse within the confines of the ship. Consider the journey of this humble object: from pasture to plate to the seabed, and now to a museum display case. It reminds us that even the smallest fragment can tell a big story about capitalism, labor, and consumption. It challenges our conventional view of the Dutch East India Company, emphasizing the material realities that underpinned its global reach.