Presentation silver to the Master Shipwright of Captain Cook’s Endeavour

Captain Sir George Collier’s presentation silver entree dishes and covers by Richard Cooke, London 1803, each plain rectangular with gadroon borders, covers with detachable vine twist handles, the covers engraved: ‘Presented by the Old Madras Insurance Company to Captn. Collier, Commander of His Majestys Sloop ‘Victor’, for his persevering & gallant conduct in chasing for two days, partially engaging & ultimately sinking the French National Corvette ‘La Fleche’ of superior force while advantageously anchored at the Mahé Islands.’ Dimensions approx.: 150 x 290 x 200mm / 6 x 11 ½ x 8 inches Total weight approx.: 3513 grams / 112 oz. troy. Footnotes: These silver dishes were presented to Captain Sir George Collier KCB (1774-1824) for destroying the 22-gun French corvette La Flèche whilst commanding Victor, 18 guns, in the Seychelles on 5 September 1801. After escorting troop transports into the Red Sea ahead of the British invasion of Egypt, Victor fell in with La Flèche off Diego Garcia. After an initial engagement, the corvette escaped to windward only to be found again four days later. A short but fierce action ensued during which the corvette caught fire, grounded on a coral reef and sank before a prize crew could secure the ship. As reward, the Admiralty made Collier post captain and gave him command of Leopard, 50 guns. Born in London, Collier entered the Royal Navy in 1784. As a midshipman, he was wrecked off Madagascar in 1792 surviving among the natives of that island for six months before being rescued by a passing Portuguese brig. Unfortunately, the brig was immediately captured by a French privateer and for two more years, Collier was confined as a prisoner of war on Mauritius. Returning to service in 1795, he was given his first command in Suffolk Tender. Following the Peace of Amiens, Collier commanded the Sea Fencibles at Liverpool. After accompanying the expedition to Copenhagen in 1808, for which he was knighted for delivering the admiral’s dispatches, he saw action, and was wounded, supporting the military Campaign in Spain. After the war, Collier was made commodore on the African station where he was employed suppressing the slave trade with such rigour that he was elected an honorary member of the African Institution, founded by William Wilberforce...

This cased presentation half hull model is of the first winner of the America’s Cup, the schooner America. The copper coloured bottom is painted with black topsides and has a finely carved garland around the bow. There are two stump masts, a caprail and bowsprit. It is set on a mahogany backboard with a Bakelite name plaque engraved ‘Schooner Yacht ‘America’ Scale ¼ = 1 foot to W.G.J. from G.L.W’. A label identifies the case maker as ‘Lambert Picture Frame Manufacturer, 34 Albert Gate, Hyde Park, S.W.’ and another describes the model, including the fact that the case was added in 1903. It then explains the initials W.G.J. and G.L.W. ‘This model was presented by G.L.Watson to W.G.Jameson. George L.Watson was one of England’s leading yacht designers. He designed four America’s Cup Challengers which included: Thistle, Valkyrie, Valkyrie II and Shamrock II. He also designed the King’s Britannia, and the Kaiser’s Meteor. William G.Jameson was probably the most successful amateur helmsman in the U K in the 1880’s and the 1890’s. Jameson introduced Lord Dunraven to yacht racing in 1887. Dunraven was to build three challengers for the America’s Cup, all designed by G.L.Watson. Jameson in 1892 acted as an adviser to the Prince of Wales and introduced him to Watson who designed his Britannia. Jameson also advised Thomas Lipton in his Shamrock II challenge. Clearly, Watson and Jameson worked closely throughout their careers. Scottish, 1887. Provenance: 1887 George L. Watson presented this half hull to William G. Jamieson 1903 Unknown owner(s) thence The Glen Foster Collection 1999 Hyland Granby Antiques, Hyannis Port, Massachusetts 2002 The Kelton Collection of Maritime Art & Artifacts Probably the most famous racing yacht ever built, and the first winner of the America’s Cup, this schooner, designed by James and George Steers, was built by a syndicate of New York Yacht Club members to sail to England. The purpose of this visit was twofold: to show off U.S. shipbuilding skills and make money through competing in regattas. Only launched on 3rd May 1851, she had crossed the Atlantic and won the 53-mile race around the Isle of Wight by 22nd August that same year. America was captained by Richard Brown, who was a skilled member of the Sandy Hook Pilots group, renowned worldwide for their expertise and speed in manoeuvering schooner-rigged pilot boats...

Antique print Australia titled 'Gezigt van de Rivier Endeavour op de Kust van Nieuw-Holland'. View of an encampent on the shore of the Endeavour river on the coast of Australia where the Endeavour boat was beached. Originates from 'Reizen Rondom de Waereld door James Cook (..)'. HMS Endeavour was a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James Cook commanded to Australia and New Zealand on his first voyage of discovery from 1768 to 1771. She was launched in 1764 as the collier Earl of Pembroke, with the Navy purchasing her in 1768 for a scientific mission to the Pacific Ocean and to explore the seas for the surmised Terra Australis Incognita or "unknown southern land". Commissioned as His Majesty's Bark Endeavour, she departed Plymouth in August 1768, rounded Cape Horn and reached Tahiti in time to observe the 1769 transit of Venus across the Sun. She then set sail into the largely uncharted ocean to the south, stopping at the islands of Huahine, Bora Bora, and Raiatea west of Tahiti to allow Cook to claim them for Great Britain. In September 1769, she anchored off New Zealand, becoming the first European vessel to reach the islands since Abel Tasman's Heemskerck 127 years earlier. In April 1770, Endeavour became the first European ship to reach the east coast of Australia, with Cook going ashore at what is now known as Botany Bay. Endeavour then sailed north along the Australian coast. She narrowly avoided disaster after running aground on the Great Barrier Reef, and Cook had to throw her guns overboard to lighten her. Endeavour was beached on the Australian mainland for seven weeks to permit rudimentary repairs to her hull. Resuming her voyage, she limped into port in Batavia in October 1770, her crew sworn to secrecy about the lands that they had visited. From Batavia Endeavour continued westward, rounded the Cape of Good Hope on 13 March 1771 and reached the English port of Dover on 12 July, having been at sea for nearly three years. The ship was largely forgotten after her Pacific voyage, spending the next three years hauling troops and cargo to and from the Falkland Islands. She was renamed in 1775 after being sold into private hands, and used to transport timber from the Baltic. Rehired as a British troop transport during the American War of Independence, she was finally scuttled in a blockade of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island in 1778. Historical evidence indicates the ship was sunk just north of Goat Island in Newport Harbor, along with four other British transports. Relics from Endeavour are displayed at maritime museums worldwide, including an anchor and six of her cannon. A replica of Endeavour was launched in 1994 and is berthed alongside the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney Harbour. The NASA Space Shuttle...

Antique map New Zealand titled 'Kaart van Cooks Straat in Nieuw Zeeland'. Antique map of Cook's Strait in New Zealand. Originates from 'Reizen ...