Récipient

In 1761, the Utile, a French ship, ran aground on the island of sands that became the Island of Tromelin, 500 km from the coasts of Madagascar and those of Reunion. On board were some 160 Malagasy slaves, half of whom drowned. The crew left, abandoning the captives on the deserted islet. 80 slaves were left to their sad fate: they remained stranded on the island for 15 years and forgotten by all. Except, apparently, for Barthélémy Castellan du Vernet, who tried to warn the authorities, including the Minister of the Navy. It was only in 1776 that a corvette commanded by Jacques Marie de Tromelin came to rescue them. Only seven women and an eight-month-old baby survived. Seven times repaired, this container is representative of the skill deployed to make it last: cutting out parts, drilling corresponding holes on the part and the container, rolling up thin copper sheets to form small regular rivets which were then crushed with a hammer. A kind of metal basin found on the island of Tromelin. This object was perhaps used to conserve rainwater or water collected from the well dug just after the sinking of the Utile. Found by archaeologists in front of the opening of a building, it seems to correspond to a Malagasy tradition of placing a water jug at the entrance of houses.

Forgotten Slaves

Cand object is one of twenty-two metal vessels adapted to the principle of survival at the archaeological site of Tromelin, an islet in the Indian Ocean and a place of memory of slave violence in the 18th century. Between 1761 and 1776, this near-desert sandbar was the site of the improbable survival of some of the survivors of the shipwreck of the Utile, an East India Company ship that left Madagascar in 1761 with 160 Malagasy slaves smuggled aboard. Following the shipwreck, the survivors built a makeshift boat, the use of which was reserved for the sole members of the crew, who abandoned the 80 surviving slaves to their fate. To survive, they had no choice but to organize themselves into a community. They created shelters as well as objects of all kinds from the remains of the wreck and the materials found on the island. This dish, repaired seven times, testifies to the incredible skill and adaptability of the abandoned castaways. When help arrived in 1776, only eight people survived the fifteen years of oblivion.