Heritage Cases

The applicant and current owner, Yann von Arnim from the Mauritius Marine Conservation Society and the Mauritius Museums Council, lodges this application for a permanent export permit for a bronze cannon originating from the Speaker shipwreck in Mauritius (part of Mauritian heritage) which will be put on permanent display at the National History Museum of Mahebourg, Mauritius. To export a bronze cannon that originates from a shipwreck in Mauritius (Speaker-1702) and which was imported to South Africa in 1984. The object to be exported is a small muzzle-loading bronze cannon bearing the crowned monogram of Christian IV, King of Denmark. It is exported to be put on permanent display at the National History Museum of Mahebourg in Mauritius. It will be added to other artefacts from the Speaker shipwreck belonging to the Mauritian National Collection. The object is to be exported to Mauritius in August 2019. The export permit should be issued as this cannon originates from a Mauritian shipwreck and should therefore be considered as Mauritian Heritage. The aim is to display this object in the Mauritian National History Museum. Additional Documents This canon was found in the late 70’ on the shipwreck Speaker (1702) in Mauritius by a local fisherman who sold it to Gavin Clackworthy in 1984 for a sum of MUR1000. It was then imported to South Africa in 1984 and declared to customs. Duty for the cannon and other scrap metal was paid on the metal price. It was cleaned of concretion and restored for about one year before being declared, in 1986, to the Shipwreck Artefact Register that was authorized by the National Monuments Council and the Department of Customs. Gavin Clackworthy sold the canon to a winery in Stellenbosch that eventually went bankrupt and bought it back on an auction before selling it again in Mai 2019 to the Mauritius Marine Conservation Society represented by Yann von Arnim. It is to be pointed out that in the sixties and seventies many Mauritian shipwrecks were discovered by spear fishermen and some artefacts were then retrieved and sold. Later, from 1979 to 2003, shipwreck exploration contracts were established between project coordinators/archaeologists and the Government of Mauritius allowing artefacts to be shared. In this way many shipwreck artefacts were exported and sold. We are now in a process of trying to buy back part or these artefacts in order to bring them back and display them in our National History Museum. Prove that this cannon comes from a Mauritian shipwreck was given by several witnesses in Mauritius as well as the mention in various following publications: • On page 89 in: Lizé, P., 2007, Piracy in the Indian Ocean. Mauritius and the pirate ship Speaker, pp.82-99, X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy, Russell K. Skowronek and Charles R. Ewen eds., Gainesville: University Press of Florida, ISBN: 0-8130-2875-2. • On page 128 (illustration No12) and 181 in: Lizé, P., 1987, La veritable histoire du Pirate Bowen (The true story of the pirate John Bowen), Glena t ed., ISBN:2-7234-0879-5 • Soulat, J., 2019, L’épave pirate du Speaker 1702 : inventaire et étude du mobilier (The pirate shipwreck Speaker 1702 : Inventory and study of its artefacts), with drawing of the canon. https://landarc.fr/fr/projets/etude/38/etude-du-mobilier-du-speaker-1702-navire-pirate-echoue-a-l-ile-maurice