Silver dish

Silver dish commemorating the capture of the Spanish silver fleet by the Dutch Admiral Piet Hein (1577-1629) in 1628 in the bay of Matanzas.

Octagonal dish with curved sides and a decorative border, the centre finely engraved with a view of the harbour at Amsterdam with numerous ships, inscribed: 'CAMER VAN AMSTERDAM MET DE VLOOT'. Above in an oval is engraved a portrait medallion of Pieter Hein with inscription ' PIETER PIETERSZ HAYN GENERAEL'.

The border shows four views of shipping representing branches of the Dutch West Indies Co. inscribed below: 'CAMER OP DE MAES', 'CAMER IN T. NOORDER QUARTiER', 'CAMER VAN GROENINGEN', 'CAMER VAN ZEELAND'. Camer refers to chamber, district or branch; the Dutch West Indies Company was divided into five camers in Rotterdam, Middelburg, Groeningen, Hoorn and Amsterdam.

Emblematical figures of the four seasons are engraved on the border between the views of shipping 'Lenten', 'Somer', 'Herfst', 'Winter'. Individual ships are named as ''Utrecht', 'Dordrecht', 'Neptunus', 'Monnekedam', 't'Jacht Oyevaer', 'Griffoen', 'Gouden Leeuw', 'Vergulden dolfyn', 'Tyger', 'Goude Son', 'Neptunus' Vice Admiral Postpeert Out olissingen.'

On the back of the dish in a circle is a dedication in Dutch, which translates as: 'The brave deed of Piet Hein's victory you see produced here to his everlasting memory, who risked his life for his fatherland. His name is eternal to the disgrace of the enemy. This is given by Philip Castel to Machtel Castel. Until he goes to his God give him a good Christian life.'.

The dish is the third chronologically in a series of eight dating 1624-35. This is the largest, and is not an alms dish, but a secular one used for display, for fruit or serving a glass of wine.

Object Details

ID: PLT0170
Collection: Decorative art
Type: Dish
Display location: Display - QH
Creator: Kauxdorf, Andreas
Events: Eighty Years' War: Battle in the Bay of Matanzas, 1628
Date made: 1629
People: Hein, Piet Pieterzoon
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Collection
Measurements: Overall: 20 mm x 340 mm
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