Hamerhaai Possibly 1785

Jan Brandes made this drawing of two hammerhead sharks in pen and brush around 1786. It's part of a larger volume with studies of the natural world. Brandes was an employee of the Dutch East India Company, and his drawings reflect an era of increasing global trade and scientific exploration. The image reveals a lot about the social conditions shaping artistic production. Brandes’ role in the Company, an incredibly powerful economic institution, enabled him to travel widely and make such studies. It's a visual record, documenting the natural world for European audiences, implicitly supporting colonial enterprises. The depiction of exotic animals fed Europe’s fascination with other cultures. To fully understand Brandes' work, we can turn to the archives of the Dutch East India Company and studies of colonial history. The meaning of this artwork is dependent on the social and institutional context of its creation.