Dim. 8 x 12 cm. The year is 1817. The English merchant ship Diana has just loaded a cargo of firewood. Earlier they had already taken on board a cargo of tea, spices and porcelain. The voyage continues in high spirits. Suddenly, the crew is startled by a loud thud. The ship has hit a rock. With a great deal of creaking, the ship rips open and sinks ever faster to the bottom of the sea. The cargo ship Diana sank on 4 March 1817 in the Straits of Malacca. As luck would have it, the cargo was covered by a three-metre thick layer of mud. As a result, the contents have been well preserved. The cargo was auctioned at Christie's in Amsterdam in 1995. The Beuneker offeror says: 'It has something special: you get stuff that has never been used. They are actually brand new, only they have been lying on the seabed for almost 170 years. That is a miracle! Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)