Collection: National Maritime Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection overview (Cornucopia)

  Maritime

  The collection contains over 2 million objects related to seafaring, navigation, astronomy and measuring time. The collections are divided into 5 subject areas: Exploration, time and space; Maritime commerce and conflict; The sea as resource; Sea, ships, time and stars as inspiration and Maritime Greenwich. Collections online provides access to over 5900 objects and over 8400 image of objects from the collections of ceramics, coins, jewellery, firearms, prints and drawings, sundials, quadrants, globes, charts, edged weapons and medals. Searchable objects are Astrolabes (50 are available on line from one of the world’s largest collections) Ceramics, Charts, Coins and commemorative medals, Edged weapons, Firearms, Globes, Horological Instruments (34 items online), Jewellery, Prints and Drawings, Quadrants, Sundials and Uniforms. A selection of flags, ship models and uniforms will be available by summer 2004. Other online collections are Maritime Art Greenwich is a learning resource combining subject expertise with the riches of the Museum’s collection of oil paintings; The Flinders papers looks at the life and work of English explorer Matthew Flinders (1774-1814) with transcripts of over 150 documents including many personal letters, as well as paintings, collection objects and some of Flinders’s charts of Australia. Search Station gives access to over 1800 objects from the collections through the themes of Trade and Empire, Nelson, Passengers and Exploration. the Maritime Art Collections catalogues available online are Historic photographs catalogue, Library and manuscripts catalogue and the Prints and drawings catalogue. A computerised catalogue of the books is available and Maritime memorials features details of: nearly 5000 church, cemetery and public memorials to seafarers and victims of maritime disasters; 150 prints and drawings are online and nearly 500 charts and maps dating from the 15th century. The figurehead collection traces the development of ornamental carving with figureheads and other forms of decoration from numerous merchant vessels situated in the privately run Abbey Gardens of Tresco with 30 ships’ figureheads, name-boards and other decorative ships’ carvings.

  Miniatures

  This collection numbers almost 200 items, dating from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, mostly portraits of British men (and very occasionally women) with maritime associations. There are a large number of portraits of Horatio Nelson, and also of Lady Hamilton. Important works and/or subjects within the collection include: Nicholas Hilliard, portrait of George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland (c.1590). Isaac Oliver, portrait of an unknown lady. Samuel Cooper, portraits of Prince Rupert, Charles II, James, Duke of York, and Sir Edward Spragge. John Dixon, portrait of George Monck, first Earl of Albemarle.

  Source: Cornucopia

  Date: Not known, but before 2015

  Licence: CC BY-NC