This wax seal stamp faithfully recreates the emblem of the Dutch West India Company (Geoctroyeerde Westindische Compagnie, WIC), founded in 1621 during the height of the Dutch Golden Age. The WIC played a major role in global trade, privateering, and colonisation across the Atlantic world.
The WIC was deeply involved in the transatlantic slave trade, sourcing enslaved people from established West African markets. These markets were largely supplied by African kingdoms and traders who captured and sold war captives, criminals, and debtors long before European powers arrived. The arrival of the WIC and other European companies greatly expanded the demand, fuelling conflict and exploitation across the region.
Operating from forts and trading posts along the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) and other parts of West Africa, the WIC transported enslaved people to colonies in the Caribbean, South America, and North America, including Suriname, Curaçao, and New Amsterdam (later New York). Alongside the grim legacy of the Atlantic trade, the WIC also engaged in privateering, famously capturing the Spanish treasure fleet in 1628 under Admiral Piet Hein.
This seal symbolises a complex and often brutal chapter of global history — an era of ambition, commerce, conflict, and tragedy.
