Conus textile shell from the wreck of the Dutch East India ship Witte Leeuw before 1613

Curator: Before us is a Conus textile shell, recovered from the wreck of the Witte Leeuw, a Dutch East India ship that sank before 1613. Editor: It has a strangely muted quality, despite the intricate pattern. Almost like looking at a ruin, weathered and aged by its time in the sea. Curator: Its materiality is, of course, central to its story. A simple shell, yet salvaged from a vessel emblematic of Dutch global trade dominance and colonial expansion during that period. These shells, objects of curiosity and trade, circulated across vast networks. Editor: It’s eerie to consider the shell's journey in parallel to that of enslaved peoples and appropriated goods along the same routes of maritime commerce. Were shells such as this one part of a currency, an exchange in that system of oppression? Curator: It’s conceivable. Luxury goods, including natural objects, acquired immense social and economic value, contributing to the construction of racial and economic hierarchies. The making of empire relied on materials obtained and consumed across continents. Editor: The pattern too intrigues me – seemingly random yet subtly ordered, a chaotic, net-like web suggesting interconnectedness, entrapment, and, ironically, textiles as the shell name denotes. Curator: That intersection speaks volumes. The shell embodies both the natural world and the constructed world of commerce. It moves beyond merely representing exotic goods. Instead, we may reflect on ecological impact and social exploitation inseparable from that historical moment. Editor: It forces us to re-examine this natural form – as a document bearing witness to unequal exchange and colonial violence. A silent witness. Curator: Indeed, observing this modest shell opens a Pandora's box of discussions about early capitalist enterprise, revealing its raw underbelly. Editor: So a delicate thing of nature, transformed into a stark reminder of human ambition and its darker consequences.