File:VOCMarriageLicense1763.jpg

English: Calligraphed marriage license from the VOC at Coromandel. Ink and ink wash on paper, with a monogram stamp of the VOC [Dutch East India Company] in the upper centre, framed under passe-partout behind glass. Folded creases with occasional small holes, sl. browned, several repaired tears at the upper edge, unexamined out of the frame. Marriage license: "Commissarissen van Huwelijkse Zaaken Jan Marcus Scheeper van Amsterdam Oud boekhouder in dienst der E. Comp. Jongman, werd bij deesen gepermitteerd zig in den Huwelijksen Staat te laaten bevestigen. Met De Jonge Juffrouw Susanna Margaritha Dubon van Mazulipatnam. Nagapatnam In't casteel Den 4. Mey A. 1763. Ter ordonnantie van den Wel Edelen Agtbaare Heer Christiaan van Teijlingen Gouverneur en Directeur deeser Custe Chormandel" written and signed by J. Haselkamp (Marion H. Peters. VOC in India, 106). Coromandel was a popular destination for Dutch women who were afraid of becoming spinsters, but given the addition "Mazulipatnam" Miss Dubon was probably already settled in India. Nagapatnam (Nagapattinam) was the capital of Dutch Coromandel since 1690. In 1781 the city was conquered by the British East India Company after a fierce battle which lasted four years. Subsequently the greater part of the belongings of the VOC were destroyed or captured. Apart from the archives held by public collections only very few documents survived. This charming ephemera with its colourful elaborate decorative wreath is one of them.