Portrait of Dina Lems, Wife of Jan Valckenburgh

1660

Valckenburgh was married to Dina Lems, daughter of a high-ranking official of the Dutch East India Company. Her extensive pearls attest to her wealth. Both Dina’s father and her husband amassed fortunes in the trade of slaves, ivory and gold. They also handled the sort of pepper seeds known as ‘grains of paradise’, grown on the west coast of Africa. Not for nothing then does Dina point at the pepper plant next to her.