Amid great interest, ‘figurehead Barry’ was brought in in the harbor of Den Oever. The spectacular archaeological find was the bycatch of Wieringer shrimp fishermen last Monday. They had no idea who was staring at them through the prawns. The museum world is now in turmoil and everyone wants to see the image. Fisherman Victor Ayal is deeply impressed: “We now understand how special it is.”
‘Barry’ is the name the fishermen have given the statue. The oak statue of a man with a hat and a strong mustache must have been lying on the seabed for about 500 years. Last Monday, the shrimp fishermen of the WR22 brought it up with them. “It was a bit of a shock, because you are immediately looked at by a pair of eyes. You hardly ever find this. Very impressive, very beautiful, very cool,” says fisherman Victor Ayal.
‘Jewel’
For Michiel Bartels of the archaeological department of the municipality of Hollands Kroon, it is important that the statue is conserved as soon as possible, so that the statue remains in good condition: “It is a jewel. The statue is part of the railing of a merchant ship. or a warship. There is a replica in Lelystad near Bataviastad. We are now going to investigate what it exactly represents.”
Text continues below the video.
figurehead Barry / warrior between shrimps – NH Nieuws / Jurgen van den Bos
For fisherman Victor Ayal, who had almost thrown the statue overboard, the importance of the find is getting deeper and deeper: “It is of course wonderful to have something from the time of pirates here, people who then sailed the seas. The story behind the image is fantastic, that’s what it’s all about. Yes, beautiful, it’s like a boy’s book.”
Crazy amounts
In principle, the fishermen are allowed to keep the statue and both archaeologist Bartels and fisherman Ayal hope that ‘Barry’ will stay nearby. Ayal: “Insane amounts have already been offered for images, but we will first go for the conservation and loaning. In the first instance I hope that it will go to the Kaap Skil museum on Texel or Bataviastad and that I will do it again with my family. in a nice arrangement.”
The archaeological find and especially the coincidence have inspired a poem by the Texel island poet Fiet van Beek.
CATCH
A fisherman from Hollands Kop,
was out for shrimp, found a block.
It had almost gone overboard again,
but deep brown eyes looked at him
intrusive. A warrior from fine
carved wood, a hated
warrior from a distant past,
emerged in our steely present.
Only by going under,
can he survive a little longer?
His last will sounds watertight:
‘I am once for a good reason
slipped off the ship at Texel’s coast.
I kept silent through the ages,
but now I ask: bring me ashore
and grant me my place in Cape Skil.’
Don’t want to miss anything from the Noordkop?
Seen a typo? Let us know at [email protected]