Rare Interesting Antique Silver Pocket Watch Abbatucci Shipwreck Cargo C1869
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:524375 | Type: Ring |
| Metal: Yellow Gold | Sub-Type: Signet |
Rare Interesting Unique Antique Silver Pocket Watch Abbatucci Shipwreck Cargo c1869
A fascinating piece with a great history. The character has been totally changed by immersion beneath the sea thus creating a unique piece of marine art.
Provenance: This piece can be cross checked with the original Christie's auction catalogue.
Lot No. 140.'This item was purchased as Lot 140 from the sale held on Tuesday 7 October 1997'
Size: Height 4.5cm Diameter 3.8cm...r>Christies South Kensington
The Abbatucci Cargo
Tuesday 7 October 1997 at 10:30am
‘Intelligence has been received of theloss of the steam packet General Abbatucci. A French Intendant General, thePontifical Consul at Marseilles, 16 French soldiers and 15 Papal recruits, ontheir way to Civitavecchia, have perished..’
On the 7th May 1869 The General Abbatucci sank in tragiccircumstances. She had left her home port of Mareilles the previous day on aroutine monthly run to Civitavecchia, Italy, but on this trip, as well as thenormal trade shipments, she was said to have been carrying a much more excitingcargo. It was thought to have consisted of several million French Francsdestined for the Vatican, gifts for the birthday of Pope Pius IX from Church officialsin France, and possible pay for the French army in Italy.
Her passengers included many powerful dignitaries and wealthy merchantmen, somewith their families, a troop of Pontifical guards, and the Pontifical Consulrepresenting the Holy See in Marseilles, who was returning to Rome.
Sadly this particular voyage was to be short lived, during the early hours ofthat morning the 282 ton 12 year old ship was involved in a collision 24 milesoff the north Corsican coast. The Edward Hwid, a 500 ton Norwegian barquentine, holed The General Abbatucci below her starboard anchor, she took on water atgreat speed and sank within two hours of being hit, with the loss of 54 lives.The newspapers were full of survivors tales of the futile attempts made bypanic stricken noblemen to buy their safety by casting their valuables at thefeet of the crew, but little could be done and for many their fates weresealed. The Times reported ‘The Captain and 54 persons were saved, and havebeen brought to Leghorn almost naked, the accident having occurred early in themorning, when most of them were in their berths. Several sailors and a muchlarger number of passengers were lost’. Shortly after she sank her captain andthe survivors were picked up by the sailing vessel The Embla, which alsoescorted the damaged Edward Hwidt to the Italian coastal city of Livorno. Anenquiry held by the Italian maritime judges ruled that The General Abbatucciwas negligent for failing to keep a proper lookout , and the captain of TheEdward Hwidt was penalized for leaving the scene of the incident without makingany attempt to pick up survivors.
The rumour of the existence of Papal gifts was reinforced by the behaviour ofthe guards and the Consul who remained on board ship, making no attempt to savethemselves.
The General Abbatucci and her secrets lay untouched on the seabed until she waslocated in May 1996, nearly 127 years after her tragic end.
It took Blue Water Recoveries Ltd 32 days of searching before they finallyfound the wreck they were looking for, scanning over 1000 square miles plaguedby bad weather and unpredictable currents – attested to by the numerous otherwrecks discovered during the search.
On the 19th May 1996 the latest wreck discovered was inspected by aremote operated vehicle with colour and wide angle black and white cameras. Itbore no resemblance to the artists impression of what they thought they wouldfind; 127 years on the seabed had taken its toll. The metal hull had long sincerusted away leaving the huge single engine boiler exposed in the centre of thewreck. The sides of the ship had fallen outwards, collapsing to reveal theskeletal remains of the hull. Once the age had been ascertained by the carefulexamination of surrounding artefacts, a more detailed search was made in orderto establish the wrecks identity. The first pieces of porcelain examined provedto be disappointing as it was cargo destined for Italy and not the ships chinawhich would bear the company crest for Valery, Freres & Fils and provide apositive identification. Some time later during the survey, the wreck still nothaving been positively identified, a severe problem developed with the remoteoperated vehicle its sonar equipment, essentially its ‘eyes’ failed. Theweather on the surface was forecast to blow for two days, which would mean afurther excruciating delay before the vehicle could get back on the wreck. With the sort of luck that is only found atsea, and then only rarely, the ships compass binnacle was sighted lying on theseabed, just a few feet in front of the vehicles camera, having been torn fromthe deck as the ship plummeted to the seabed 127 years previously. The binnaclewas grabbed with the ROV manipulator arm and slowly raised to the surface on tothe deck of the search vessel. Details had been obtained of the originalequipment supplied to the vessel and the name of the manufacturer of thecompass was known. Unfortunately, when the revolving compass card was rinsed, adifferent name was revealed, much to the dismay and bitter disappointment ofthe search team. Their spirits rose, however, when a short time later therecame an excited cry from the team member cleaning the body of the compass – hehad discovered the sought after name on its base. This was the proof theyrequired and the full recovery operation began. The next group of crockeryexamined was found to bear the company logo, and the excitement mounted as muchof the wrecks cargo was brought to the surface. The results were mixed. Theexpected main cargo of gold was not found but jewellery, watched and coins wererecovered from a depth of over 8, 000 feet. Time ran out and it was decided toleave the remainder of the exclusive cargo for another day.
When the jewellery was first brought into Christies it was almost impossible torecognise and only professional cleaning has revealed its true glory. Nearlyall of the jewellery has now been cleaned, and the transformation is unbelievable, but a few lots have been kept in recovered condition. It would appear to bepart of a jewelers stock due to the quantity of repeats of the same item, including guard chains, watch chains, brooches, earring, bangles, and rings, enabling some to be grouped together to provide matching suites.
Other items in this sale include coins, and some artefacts such as pressedglass, porcelain and bottles, revealing a fascinating insight into the tradingof the time, each piece of antique gold jeweler from the 1860’s.
Due to the nature and recovery of these items each catalogue descriptioncarries a brief outline of condition, mentioning major defects. It should benoted that due to the cleaning process many base metal components in thejewellery, such as hinge pins, will have disintegrated. Any enamel corrosionwill have been removed either through cleaning or through corrosion in the sea.Any remaining stones have been badly affected and not easily identified, mostappear to be either paste or doublets and are therefore unspecified. Alljewellery items are gold unless stated otherwise. Some items may still needfurther
A fascinating piece with a great history. The character has been totally changed by immersion beneath the sea thus creating a unique piece of marine art.
Provenance: This piece can be cross checked with the original Christie's auction catalogue.
Lot No. 140.'This item was purchased as Lot 140 from the sale held on Tuesday 7 October 1997'
Size: Height 4.5cm Diameter 3.8cm
The Abbatucci Cargo
Tuesday 7 October 1997 at 10:30am
‘Intelligence has been received of theloss of the steam packet General Abbatucci. A French Intendant General, thePontifical Consul at Marseilles, 16 French soldiers and 15 Papal recruits, ontheir way to Civitavecchia, have perished..’
On the 7th May 1869 The General Abbatucci sank in tragiccircumstances. She had left her home port of Mareilles the previous day on aroutine monthly run to Civitavecchia, Italy, but on this trip, as well as thenormal trade shipments, she was said to have been carrying a much more excitingcargo. It was thought to have consisted of several million French Francsdestined for the Vatican, gifts for the birthday of Pope Pius IX from Church officialsin France, and possible pay for the French army in Italy.
Her passengers included many powerful dignitaries and wealthy merchantmen, somewith their families, a troop of Pontifical guards, and the Pontifical Consulrepresenting the Holy See in Marseilles, who was returning to Rome.
Sadly this particular voyage was to be short lived, during the early hours ofthat morning the 282 ton 12 year old ship was involved in a collision 24 milesoff the north Corsican coast. The Edward Hwid, a 500 ton Norwegian barquentine, holed The General Abbatucci below her starboard anchor, she took on water atgreat speed and sank within two hours of being hit, with the loss of 54 lives.The newspapers were full of survivors tales of the futile attempts made bypanic stricken noblemen to buy their safety by casting their valuables at thefeet of the crew, but little could be done and for many their fates weresealed. The Times reported ‘The Captain and 54 persons were saved, and havebeen brought to Leghorn almost naked, the accident having occurred early in themorning, when most of them were in their berths. Several sailors and a muchlarger number of passengers were lost’. Shortly after she sank her captain andthe survivors were picked up by the sailing vessel The Embla, which alsoescorted the damaged Edward Hwidt to the Italian coastal city of Livorno. Anenquiry held by the Italian maritime judges ruled that The General Abbatucciwas negligent for failing to keep a proper lookout , and the captain of TheEdward Hwidt was penalized for leaving the scene of the incident without makingany attempt to pick up survivors.
The rumour of the existence of Papal gifts was reinforced by the behaviour ofthe guards and the Consul who remained on board ship, making no attempt to savethemselves.
The General Abbatucci and her secrets lay untouched on the seabed until she waslocated in May 1996, nearly 127 years after her tragic end.
It took Blue Water Recoveries Ltd 32 days of searching before they finallyfound the wreck they were looking for, scanning over 1000 square miles plaguedby bad weather and unpredictable currents – attested to by the numerous otherwrecks discovered during the search.
On the 19th May 1996 the latest wreck discovered was inspected by aremote operated vehicle with colour and wide angle black and white cameras. Itbore no resemblance to the artists impression of what they thought they wouldfind; 127 years on the seabed had taken its toll. The metal hull had long sincerusted away leaving the huge single engine boiler exposed in the centre of thewreck. The sides of the ship had fallen outwards, collapsing to reveal theskeletal remains of the hull. Once the age had been ascertained by the carefulexamination of surrounding artefacts, a more detailed search was made in orderto establish the wrecks identity. The first pieces of porcelain examined provedto be disappointing as it was cargo destined for Italy and not the ships chinawhich would bear the company crest for Valery, Freres & Fils and provide apositive identification. Some time later during the survey, the wreck still nothaving been positively identified, a severe problem developed with the remoteoperated vehicle its sonar equipment, essentially its ‘eyes’ failed. Theweather on the surface was forecast to blow for two days, which would mean afurther excruciating delay before the vehicle could get back on the wreck. With the sort of luck that is only found atsea, and then only rarely, the ships compass binnacle was sighted lying on theseabed, just a few feet in front of the vehicles camera, having been torn fromthe deck as the ship plummeted to the seabed 127 years previously. The binnaclewas grabbed with the ROV manipulator arm and slowly raised to the surface on tothe deck of the search vessel. Details had been obtained of the originalequipment supplied to the vessel and the name of the manufacturer of thecompass was known. Unfortunately, when the revolving compass card was rinsed, adifferent name was revealed, much to the dismay and bitter disappointment ofthe search team. Their spirits rose, however, when a short time later therecame an excited cry from the team member cleaning the body of the compass – hehad discovered the sought after name on its base. This was the proof theyrequired and the full recovery operation began. The next group of crockeryexamined was found to bear the company logo, and the excitement mounted as muchof the wrecks cargo was brought to the surface. The results were mixed. Theexpected main cargo of gold was not found but jewellery, watched and coins wererecovered from a depth of over 8, 000 feet. Time ran out and it was decided toleave the remainder of the exclusive cargo for another day.
When the jewellery was first brought into Christies it was almost impossible torecognise and only professional cleaning has revealed its true glory. Nearlyall of the jewellery has now been cleaned, and the transformation is unbelievable, but a few lots have been kept in recovered condition. It would appear to bepart of a jewelers stock due to the quantity of repeats of the same item, including guard chains, watch chains, brooches, earring, bangles, and rings, enabling some to be grouped together to provide matching suites.
Other items in this sale include coins, and some artefacts such as pressedglass, porcelain and bottles, revealing a fascinating insight into the tradingof the time, each piece of antique gold jeweler from the 1860’s.
Due to the nature and recovery of these items each catalogue descriptioncarries a brief outline of condition, mentioning major defects. It should benoted that due to the cleaning process many base metal components in thejewellery, such as hinge pins, will have disintegrated. Any enamel corrosionwill have been removed either through cleaning or through corrosion in the sea.Any remaining stones have been badly affected and not easily identified, mostappear to be either paste or doublets and are therefore unspecified. Alljewellery items are gold unless stated otherwise. Some items may still needfurther
