Porcelain and pepper from the VOC trading ship the Witte Leeuw
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) brought costly Asian goods to the Netherlands. Sometimes a ship would sink underway, as did the Witte Leeuw in 1613. In addition to porcelain – intact pieces as well as shards – the remains of a load of pepper were recovered in 1976. Some pieces of porcelain have fused together with pieces of wreckage and the seabed. The delicate white wine cup became attached to a piece of iron among the shells.