Description
This is a traditional 19th-century rectangular painted wooden seaman's chest with a hinged lid. The exterior of the chest is painted green and the interior is a pale cream. The lid has a sailing vessel painted on the inside and the picture is partly framed with handwoven ropes. The white box section on the left-hand side was probably a repository for smaller personal items. The chest measures 93.5 cm (height) x 41.5 cm (width) x 43.0 cm (depth).
Educational value
- This asset shows how sailors stored their personal belongings - during voyages, sailors kept their limited possessions in a chest such as this one; commonly sailors either bought new chests from a ship's chandler and then customised them or purchased secondhand ones from other mariners.
- It depicts a versatile personal possession - sailors used their sea chests for many purposes; while seamen's chests were principally used for storage, they also served as seats or tables on which sailors played cards; the exterior surfaces of the chests received much wear and tear, so seamen usually painted pictures only on the inside.
- It reveals a little about life at sea during the 19th century - many sailors were proud of their personalised chests and painted the inside lids with images of sailing vessels or beautiful women; images of women highlighted the absence of female company and loved ones from the sailors' lives while they were at sea.
- It is evidence of a sailor's handicraft skills - in the quieter moments of long sea journeys, sailors frequently turned their hands to many forms of handicraft such as painting, carving and weaving.
- It is an example of maritime art as an important historical resource - maritime art took many forms and is a significant resource for historians because it sometimes provides the only record of a ship's appearance in an age before photography; paintings of ships were very important mementos for shipowners, and for those who sailed in or worked on the vessels.
