Rafael Osona Auctions Annual Catalog 2020 | Page 192

562. CARVED AND PAINTED SHIP’S QUARTERBOARD, late 19 th Century, “G.W. Baldwin” with Masonic symbols on each
end. Length 80 in. Width 7 in. 300/500
563. MAHOGANY SHIP’S WHEEL PURPORTEDLY REMOVED FROM THE CHARLES W. MORGAN. The wheel
inherited from our consignor states: In my father’s words: “The story was that the wheel belonged to the previous owner’s grandfather.
He was a ship’s carpenter and as a young man had worked on the Morgan following WWI. Captain Cleveland had bought the Morgan
and was refitting her for a voyage to Desolation Island in the Southern Ocean for sperm and sea elephant oil.” There are several
letters that follow that trace my father’s attempt to obtain more information concerning the wheel. Perhaps the most helpful is a letter
from Carolyn Sabin, written to Mrs. Edwin McGinn. In it she states that the wheel was given to her father, Reverend Lothrop, by
a parishioner whose husband was the carpenter who removed it. Apparently, they used the Charles W. Morgan in the silent movie
“Down to the Sea in Ships” which was filmed in 1922 and was the story about a 19th c. Massachusetts whaling family and a lead
character was named Captain Charles W. Morgan. It was at that time that the Morgan was in a state of disrepair and to prepare her for
the movie it was determined that it would be easier and faster to just put a new wheel on the ship. So, at that time, the old wheel was
removed and the story of my father’s attempts to trace its history begins. The wheel was restored by H. Denke in1969 and a painted
ivory plaque affixed to the wheel inscribed: “The wheel of the Charles W. Morgan, removed in refitting, 1916, Restored by H. Denke,
1969.” Diameter 47 in. 1,500/2,500
Note: All correspondence tracing the history, and photographs of the restoration will be passed on to the purchaser of this wheel.
187 Rafael Osona Auctions