In 1781, Joan Gideon Loten (1710-1789) llived in this building, which he could afford through his very lucrative career in the VOC, earning over 690.000 guilders (17.250.000 euros). He became a sub-merchant of the VOC in 1731, governor of Makassar in 1743 and governor of Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka) in 1752. He owned multiple enslaved people, one being a woman called Sitie.

Sitie was transferred as a gift to Joan by the king of South-Sulawesi in 1752 and came with him to Utrecht. Her status in the Netherlands is unclear. Slavery was illegal on Dutch soil at the time, but Joan argued that Sitie was not a slave but a gift. We know from letters that Sitie expressed the wish to return to South-Sulawesi, it is unlikely that she ever did. It was stated in Joan’s will that Sitie would be given a yearly allowance of 220 guilders (5.500 euros) after his passing, but that she would only receive it if she married with the consent of Loten’s heirs. Despite the abolition of slavery in the Netherlands, situations such as Sitie’s were directly impacted by the colonial mindset of this period.