Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2009.37 |
Object Name |
Ship |
Title |
Model of the Brig Advance |
Artist |
Unknown |
Description |
Wooden ship model with two masts and rigging. A lifeboat hangs off the stern. Housed in glass and wood display case. |
Label |
This is a model of the sailing ship used by explorer Elisha Kent Kane on his two Arctic expeditions during the 1850s. A two-masted, 144-ton brigantine that measured only 88 feet long, the Advance was described by Kane as "a good sailer [sic], and easily managed"– important qualities for navigating dangerous, ice-filled waters. Kane and his men abandoned the ship in May of 1855, after it had been frozen in the ice for nearly two years and mostly broken up for fuel. However, Kane and his men rescued and brought home the figurehead of "the fair Augusta, the little blue girl with pink cheeks, who had lost her breast by an iceberg." |
Material |
Cloth, metal, paper, thread, and wood |
Dimensions |
H-22 W-10.5 L-28.5 inches |
Dimension Details |
Case: 24.75 x 32.5 x 14.5 |
Credit line |
American Philosophical Society. Gift of Thomas Pym Cope, 1969. |
Search Terms |
19th century nineteenth century travel navigation model transportation vessel |