Dutch East Indiaman ship, 17th-century illustration. Large sailing ships known as East Indiamen being treated and repaired in harbour. At lower left, men on a raft are caulking (tarring) the planks of a vessel's hull, with carpenters at work on the deck. A fully fitted-out ship is inclined (careened) in the water at right, with sailors on a raft treating the under-water timber wreathed in smoke. East Indiamen were used by the East India Companies of the major European trading powers from the 17th through the 19th centuries. This 1647 artwork is by Bohemian painter Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677), and is from a series by him on Dutch ships.