On August 14, 1819, the whaleship Essex sailed out of Nantucket Harbor— Captain George Pollard, one of the youngest ever to command a whaling ship, anticipated a successful two-and-a-half year voyage; its crew of twenty hoped for greasy luck. Their experience was anything but lucky. Fifteen months after the start […]
Tag: whaling
“When America First Met China”
by Amy Roberts There are very few windows into Nantucket’s little known nineteenth century engagement in the China Trade. As small pieces of a vague past, there are portraits of Nantucket captains and their families completed by Chinese artists, intricately painted porcelain platters, personalized creamware jugs, and earthenware figurines brought […]
Labor of Love
Nantucket Carving & Folk Art Perched on the hill at 167 Orange Street you’ll find Nantucket Carving & Folk Art, where hundreds of quarterboards, dozens of signs, and carved mantles, whales, eagles, and other decorative pieces are drawn, carved, painted, and gilded. Downtown Nantucket is a portfolio of the work […]
Lost on a Reef-The Whaleship Two Brothers
The Nantucket Historical Association announces the world premiere of Lost on a Reef: an exhibition of artifacts retrieved from the 1823 Nantucket whaleship, Two Brothers, in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This exhibition is in the NHA’s Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street and may be viewed […]