The sea turtle is in danger. Both the turtle’s eggs and its shell are attractive objects. In sixteenth century Europe this enormous animal was a real novelty and its shell was very much in demand.
The sixteenth century is famous for its exploratory expeditions. After the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492, a craze started. The Spaniards and the Portuguese went in search of new territories, something that made them a lot of money. For years, the Spanish Treasury was stacked with silver from Peruvian mines. The Netherlands, that experienced a massive economic growth, did not stay far behind. In 1598 Oliver van Noort was the first Dutchman to sail around the world in search of ships full of silver.
Strange collections
The explorers and their travels spoke to the imagination of many people, both in the countries that organized the journeys as well as outside of them. Stories about strange people and even stranger animals made their way back to Europe quickly. And not just stories. The explorers were keen to bring back home different specimens, preferably alive, to present their kings and queens with, or for exhibition purposes. The turtle shell was a popular souvenir. The animals could survive for a long time with no food or water and so the ship’s crew could use them as food supplies. When they would arrive back home, people would marvel at the enormous shells of the slaughtered animals. They had never seen such exotic objects. Not surprisingly, in this age it became the fashion to start a collection of peculiar items. Not only kings and wealthy citizens partook in this trend, also the somewhat fortunate members of the middle classes tried to join in. Turtle shells were a recurring item in their eccentric collections.
‘Sea Turtle’ by Adriaen Coenensz (1577)
Pig in a shell
Hardly anyone knew what a living example of one these creatures looked like though. Adriaen Coenensz van Schilperoort (1514-1587) from the village of Scheveningen made a drawing of a turtle in his Visboeck, Fishbook. This illustrative book that has never been published is full of information about the lives of sea creatures, recipes for their preparation, poems and legends. Besides the odd animals from recently discovered territories there are also plenty of examples of horrifying monsters.
Society had inherited its belief in monsters from the Middle Ages. Until proven otherwise, people were convinced of the existence of mermaids, frightening sea reptiles and kuikers: well-behaved devils that helped the fishermen to sort out shrimp. Coenensz, who had been a fisherman for a long time, had an extensive knowledge of water creatures and had seen some strange specimen in his life. He thought kuikers were nothing but a superstitious belief but he obtained his information about the sea monsters from the writings of a Swedish bishop. He was a religious man and did not doubt the words of this clergyman, or the power of God concerning the creation of miraculous beings. Coenensz had heard the craziest stories about the sea turtle and he had seen their shells. He thought up his own version of the animal: a pig in a shell.
Extinction
The explorers weren’t very much concerned about the environment or the extinction of odd animals and sea creatures. They would take anything with them to prevent a lack of vitamins and the subsequent scurvy. The ever growing fleet of ships passing by meant the end of entire colonies of penguins, turtles and dodos. Fortunately, there are still a number of Borneo sea turtles left, and hopefully we will be able to enjoy these wild animals for a long time to come.
To those who don’t want to get their feet wet, the Chessmen Museum offers a beautiful twentieth century chess set made of plastic, with majestic sea animals as its chess pieces.
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