Other Finished Products

Chandeliers and sconces

The group of notable items from the ship’s cargo consists of brass chandeliers and sconces, transported in pieces that had to be assembled only at their destination. During explorations conducted in the 20^th century, 602 components of ceiling and table chandeliers, and sconces, were recovered. The initial assumption is that they were originally from the German city of Lübeck, the leading city in the Hanseatic League, a powerful mercantile association that protected the commercial interests of the Baltic region in the Middle Ages and Early Modern era. A more recent hypothesis is that the entirety of the brass goods found at the shipwreck site may have come from the Bavarian city of Nuremberg.

Spectacles with leather frames

Particularly valuable finds are certainly the spectacles with leather frames probably of German origin (Germ. Lederbrille), packed in 8 small and 14 large wooden cases, stored together in a large box. Their total number has been estimated at 432. They consist of double leather of the frame that goes around the glass and over the part for the nose. The leather is decorated with embossed stripes. The finds have only been conserved in small part, and expert analysis has yet to be done.

Textile

A lot of attention was garnered by the chest, with dimensions of 65 x 97 x 59 cm, which gave the impression of being the ship’s cash box. According to a letter sent to the University Library in Zagreb, its opening was scheduled for 14 October 1967 at 4 p.m. The curious crowd that closely observed this event in the National Museum in Zadar was generally disappointed with the black mud from which Ksenija Radulić removed a set of apparently unimpressive items.

Those who were expecting gold coins or jewels certainly did not find these items noteworthy, but a careful inspection showed that they were in fact genuine cultural historical treasure. Namely, the chest contained three linen shirts, eight woollen caps, a small teakwood box containing two sets of weights and a precision scale and 54 m of luxurious silk damask with a width of 62 cm, decorated with a floral pattern and dyed purple, which was often used for luxury women’s clothes and clerical vestments. The high-quality fabric being exported to the Levant was manufactured in Venice under the picturesque name stoffa da navegar, meaning fabric intended for overseas trade. The textile was restored in the Abbeg Foundation Riggisberg near Bern, Switzerland.

Candle snuffers

The recovered cargo items contained 20 wholly or partly preserved candle snuffers. They were used for cutting and gathering burnt wick from candles. They had boxes of different shapes – heart-shaped, deltoid and narrow square. Whole scissors were made of iron, and only the bottom plates of the heart-shaped and deltoid-shaped boxes, as well as whole square boxes, were made of brass sheet.

Hawk bells, thimbles, razors, needles and pins

The finds salvaged from the ship’s cargo also included 210 brass ‘hawk’ bells, 98 brass pins, 2 needles, roughly 80 brass thimbles, 21 razors made of steel, brass and wood, ten buckles, and four rings.