Twine

Identifier: 1914.0015.001
Title: Twine
Creator: Benjamin Lawrence (American, 1799 - 1879)
Measurements: 10.1 x 12.7 cm (4 x 5 inches)
Materials: twine; ink; paper (fiber product); ivory (material)
Technique: writing (processes)
Date Created: 1820-1821
Location: Nantucket Whaling Museum
Subject: Shipwrecks; Shipwreck survival; Survival at sea
Description: A coil of twine sewn to a brown backing. The twine encircles handwritten-text and hand-written text encircles the twine. Per the inscription, Benjamin Lawrence made this twine while in the whaleboat after the wreck of the Essex. After his passing in 1879, it was given to Nantucket’s historian, Alexander Starbuck, who donated it to the Nantucket Historical Association in 1914.
Inscriptions: Inscribed, handwritten: Twine made by Benjamin Lawrence while in the Boat \ When the Ship Essex was shipwrecked. November 1819.; Inscribed, handwritten: They were in the Boat 93 Days.