Saturday Morning, August 8, 2026
Casting a Line
It was a death sentence. Not a sailor moved when the action was announced. Captain Bligh spoke. Insubordination. Any act against an officer will not be tolerated. Discipline and respect the rule of law. Present the charged. A group of men surrounding the accused, dragged him across the ship's deck. He struggled, kicking, biting, all to no avail. At the rail they tied his hands together then looped a rope around his waist. At my call, release him to the sea.
Wooden model of the HMS Bounty,
pride of the British Naval Fleet.
Built over one hundred years ago.
22" from bow to stern.
The HMS Bounty would have vanished into history, but for the stage it set for an infamous mutiny.
The story immortalized by Hollywood with three films in the twentieth century.
The sailors watched, fearful to protest. British Naval followed a strict caste system. Able seamen had few rights. Officers had all. A slight against any oppressive officer was determined by their rules, not Gods. Now! The bound sailor was thrown overboard. A single rope, one end tied to the sailor, the other end trailing under the ship then re-emerging and tied to the opposite rail, was the victim's only lifeline. As the man submerged, all the seamen ran to the opposite rail and began pulling the rope. Below, the sailor scraped across the barnacle laden keel, the surface slicing and shredding his skin. Salt water intensified the pain. He held his breath until his lungs felt like exploding. Above him, his comrades pulled as hard and fast as they could. In the seaman's final moment, he burst from the sea, gasping. He was a lucky one. He was still alive, though infection from the grating would add another layer to his certain painful death. Welcome to the world of keelhauling.
The Sun Nevers Sets on the British Empire
1789. The HMS Bounty sailed from London to Tahiti. Its purpose was to secure breadfruit and transport it back to Colonial controlled colonies in the West Indies. With six weeks berthed in Tahiti, sailors balked at returning to sea, their lives in paradise, a sharp alternative to caste justice. Acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, already at odds with Captain Bligh for the latter's treatment of the crew, started an action punishable by death. Mutiny.
Miniature on Austrian porcelain, signed W. Schindler,
in gesso & gilt Rococo stand up frame, portrait 3½" x 3"
A face that indeed launched a thousand ships,
against the Spanish Armada in 1588.
Within weeks of departing Tahiti, Christian and his mutineers commandeered the Mutiny, throwing the British loyalists overboard into a single lifeboat. With few provisions and no charts, Bligh and his followers were cast out to sea. The Bounty returned to Tahiti where a number of sailors chose to remain. Realizing the long arm of British law, Fletcher and several sailors and Tahitians departed, destination Pitcairn Island, a body of land mis-charted on British maps. There they lived for decades. To cover their trail, they burned and sank the Bounty, leaving no trace of their presence. Today, the island is still occupied with generations tracing their roots back to these earlier inhabitants.
20,000 Leagues Across the Sea
And Captain Bligh? Parsing his few rations and navigating by logic, the crew survived a 4,000 mile journey to a friendly port. Islands along their route were avoided as natives would murder them. Although brutal in his naval command, Bligh had an internal instinct for survival.
Flintlock replicas harking back the days on high seas.
Travel of another color.
Louisville & Nashville conductor's uniform
Once back in London, a ship, the HMS Pandora, was dispatched to capture mutineers. Those in Tahiti were transported back to London for trial. Some hung, others avoided the gallows. But Christian and his followers were never found. A search with no resolution. By the first decade of the nineteenth century, Pitcairn Island was discovered.
Edwardian wooden model ocean liner, one hundred years old, with its distinctive clipper stern and knife edge bow.
All but one of the original mutineers had already died as well as the aggrieved British officers. A generational dispute solved by time. John Adams, the only surviving mutineer was never tried for his crime. Ironically, the Pitcairn chain of islands (four total) is still under British control, one of the few recognized colonies Britain still retains. Most are used for scientific purposes and of course, for dispatching disliked subjects. These, a fragment of former British worldwide dominance. The story only remains alive today through several twentieth century movies. But, like most maritime stories, their mystery and mystique are swallowed by the Seven Seas, and none of them are talking.
Back in port this Saturday. No breadfruit. No mutineers. Just you and your internal instinct for auctions.
Doors open at 8 AM. Auction starts at 9 AM. PA AU 1265L [bb]