Broken chests were discovered in the Palmwood wreck that was brought to the surface in 2014. Researchers at the Kaap Skil museum, which displays a collection of artifacts from the wreck, said the chest was filled with clothing. , cloth, silverware, leather bindings and other goods, likely belonging to people from the highest classes of society centuries ago. Some of the most striking items include two splendid gowns intact, one of silk and the other of a wedding gown woven from silver.
The silver wedding dress is on display at the Kaap Skil museum. (Photo: Kaap Skil Museum).
Very little fabric or clothing from the 17th century remains today, even finding them in a shipwreck is even rarer because the fabric decomposes very quickly. Both dresses were placed in the same chest and used expensive silver thread. The first silk dress was introduced in 2016, made of Damask satin, a floral-textured fabric. The dress consisted of a bodice, ruffled sleeves and a long pleated skirt that flared out on the front, similar to Western European fashion from 1620 to 1630.
Meanwhile, the silver wedding dress was tailored for the special occasion and individually tailored, including the bodice and skirt. The dress features a heart-shaped silver thread embroidered pattern, with round silver leaves sewn into the skirt. According to conservation expert Alec Ewing, thanks to the silver material, the dress looks solemn and sparkling. This is one of the most special dresses that a lady of the highest social class in Western Europe can wear in her lifetime. Silver tarnishes and degrades relatively quickly in marine environments, but professionals can still clearly see traces and original trim.
Currently, the dress is brown, but the original color is more likely to be white, cream or gold silk. According to Maarten van Bommel, a professor of conservation at the University of Amsterdam, there may be only two such dresses in the world. The two skirts are rinsed to remove the salt, but they require very little conservation work. To protect the dresses, the experts put them in a special display case containing pressurized nitrogen, which de-oxygenates to prevent decomposition.
In 1660, the luxury goods Palmwood ship sank off the coast of Texel, the largest island in the North Sea. Divers first found the Palmwood wreck in 2010 in Burgzand, in the Wadden Sea east of Texel. As sand continued to be washed away from the wreck, the ship discovered in the summer of 2014 enough for divers to collect the cargo on board.