Sloep van de VOC kamer van Amsterdam met een man aan het roer en een trompetter 1636 - 1687

This drawing of a boat was made by Jacob Esselens in the Netherlands, probably in the mid-17th century. It shows a "sloep" – a shallop, or sloop – belonging to the Amsterdam chamber of the VOC, the Dutch East India Company. The VOC was a trading company with governmental powers. It was granted a monopoly on Dutch trade east of the Cape of Good Hope and it was hugely important to the economic and political development of the Netherlands. Esselens's drawing is thus interesting as a kind of commercial or institutional portrait. It reflects the pride that the Dutch took in their global trading power. To understand it better, we might research the history of the VOC and the importance of Amsterdam as a center of world trade, delving into economic records, ships' logs, and other primary source materials. Approaching art in this way helps us to understand how it reflects the society of its time.