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Clipper Ship Nightingale
Jenny Lind Figurehead
March 1, 2008 Jenny Lind Figurehead Sotheby's Auction Update at bottom of the page
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Dear Don, Thank you for a wonderful Web site. This information might be something for your site. SUMMARY The Nightingale, one of the world's best-known merchant ships, carried an exquisitely sculptured figurehead representing the vivacious songster Jenny Lind. The figurehead had a most adventurer career. It was there when the Nightingale took American pioneers to the Australian gold fields, it took part in the famous Tea Race from China to London, it carried 2,000 slaves in irons, and it saw service in the American Civil War. ____________________________
____________________________ The Nightingale ship paintings at the top of this page are by the Swedish marine artist Carl Hendel Friberg. In the book; The American Built Clipper Ship 1850 - 1856 the Author William Crother refers to an article about the clipper ship Nightingale published in the Boston Daily Evening Traveller some time between December 23, 1850 and September 21, 1853. It says: A finely carved figure of Jenny Lind, painted white, set off with gilded ornaments: in the right hand, which is extended, is a gilded bird, representing the Nightingale with half spread wings. The figureheads left arm is a replacement for the original. Originally it was forward and upward. Its right arm is the original arm but it isn't anatomically correct. From the beginning it has also been forward but not as much as the left arm. It has got an altered position to achieve the correct angle to secure the arm up towards the chest - a much safer position. The reconstruction made by laser scanning techniques - shows the Swedish Nightingale in her golden days urging the nightingale to fly out and sing to the world. __________________________
_____________________________ Maritime Book Review By Don Ross
Every clipper ship has a story and that of the Nightingale is most intriguing for she is forever linked to the Swedish Nightingale, Jenny Lind, the most remarkable singer of the clipper ship era. A figurehead of her likeness once graced the Nightingale's bow, and she spent a remarkable 42 years at sea, where she was abandoned in the North Atlantic sometime between March 17 and April 17, 1893 on a voyage between Liverpool and Halifax. But did the figurehead really go down with the ship? If not, what happened to it? Could this old "scarecrow" that turned up in a Swedish farmer's barn in 1994, a century later, that the author, an antiques dealer, chanced upon be that figurehead? ______________________________
______________________________ Karl-Eric Svärdskog, has done a remarkable job unravelling this mystery and sheds much light upon the history of the Nightingale and the clipper ship era - particularly where figureheads are concerned. By his own admission, "Two requisites for this task were a weakness for old wooden pieces combined with 'crazy furniture disease.'" Günter, a friend, shared Karl's interest in old furniture and one day in May, 1994 asked him: "Do you want to buy a scarecrow?" Günter had found it in the loft of a farmer's barn strewn with piles of junk, dust, and spiderwebs, where it had been for perhaps 100 years as the farmer explained, because it scared not only birds, but people. The farmer accepted Karl's bid, and Günter and his son picked it up in his old diesel fire truck and brought it back to his barn. The author's own words pick up the story from there. ____________________________
Günter ____________________________
Jenny Lind Figurehead Displayed at Mystic Seaport ____________________________
Here we see the Jenny Lind figurehead on display in the same room with the eagle figurehead from Donald McKay's clipper ship the Great Republic, the only other clipper ship figurehead known to exist today. _____________________________
__________________________ Jenny Lind Figurehead of the Clipper Ship Nightingale Auctioned off at Sotheby's. __________________________
__________________________ Aftermath ECS - An article appeared in the Antique Section of the January 4, 2008 edition of the New York Times about the upcoming auction to take place on January 19th at Sotheby's auction house in New York City. I e-mailed Karl and made plans to meet up with Karl at Sotheby's on Tuesday before the Saturday auction, as the Jenny Lind Figurehead was to be on display all that week. The final chapter of the Jenny Lind figurehead saga was about to take place and Karl was filled with hopeful anticipation for the auction to come, but also anxiety for the Times article let on that there was a certain Massachusetts art dealer, Ryan Cooper, who stated for the article that in his opinion the figurehead was not the original figurehead of the clipper ship Nightingale, and expressed his doubts, even though the evidence that Karl so painstakingly presents here stands up to the closest scrutiny in the eyes of the National Geographic Magazine, the experts of the Antique Road Show, as well as with eminent maritime historians of the Portsmouth Marine Society, the Mystic Seaport, and the South Street Seaport Museum. I have read Karl's book and have personally taken a very long hard look at the evidence, and after knowing Karl and being personally acquainted with Jenny these past three years and four months, that there is no doubt in my mind that this figurehead is, indeed, the long-lost figurehead of the clipper ship Nightingale. - Don Ross - ECS _________________________
__________________________ Dear Donald, www.swedishnightingale.com __________________________
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_______________________________ PROVENANCE FOR THE JENNY LIND FIGUREHEAD FROM THE NIGHTINGALE: 1851 - Likely carved by John W. Mason in his studio at 46 Commercial Street, Boston. 1885-86 - Removed from the Nightingale during repairs on the ship in Norway. 1994 - Discovered in a barn in Sweden. 1996 - Unveiled by the King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Stockholm. On Stage at the Stockholm Concert Hall in connection with a Jenny Lind Concert. 1997 - Symbol for the Cutty Sark Tall Ships Races in Gothenburg. 1998 - Presented in the May issue of National Geographic Magazine. 2001 - June 16 on stage during a Jenny Lind concert at Portsmouth Music hall to mark 150th anniversary of the Nightingale. Summer guest at the Portsmouth Athenaeum Reading room. My book Jenny Lind and the Clipper Nightingale figurehead was published by the Portsmouth Marine Society. 2002 - 2005 - On exhibit in the Wendell Building at Mystic Seaport Museum. ____________________________
___________________________ As you know, very few actual parts remain from the aproximately 500 built American clipper ships. The Nightingale figurehead is, together with the eagle from the Great Republic, the only saved figure from an extreme clipper ship. From medium clippers four figureheads exist and two are saved from half clippers. A binnacle boy remains from the N. B. Palmer at the Museum of the City of New York. A piece of the bow exists from the Snow Squall at the Maine Maritime Museum. A shipbell from Noonday is saved at San Francisco Maritime National Park. The deckhouse and the railing fom the Nightingale have survived in Kragerö in Norway. Paul Johnston (Smithsonian), Daniel Finamore (Peabody), and Revell Car (former President for Mystic Seaport) believe that Jenny is the only saved figurehead from a slaver. My evidence for the authenticity of this long-lost figurehead, as a Mason is very strong. Revell Car says that John W. Mason is the likely suspect in the mystery of who carved Jenny. Mason is considered by many the foremost American sculptor of his time. ___________________________
____________________________ The Meeting I Shall Never Forget When I pushed open the heavy door to Günter's barn, I saw a flickering candle flame. Günter came forward out of the darkness with a pair of white cloth gloves, which he handed me. "Put these on. I've just finished making a wreath out of wildflowers." Gloves and wildflowers? What was happening to him? Then, in the faint candlelight, I got my first glimpse of what presumably was the scarecrow. It was supported on trestle stands and was hidden under a thin blanket. Music streamed from loudspeakers; Günter had found a music cassette the week before in the garbage-Mozart's Requiem. The covered figure reminded me of something I had seen exhibited at the Livrustkammaren [the Royal Armory] in Stockholm-the coronation armor of Gustaf II Adolf [Swedish hero king], . . . . The flower wreath rested on the scarecrow's corresponding body part. I was well aware of Günter's strange sense of humor, but this exceeded my expectations. He lit even more candles and turned up the music. Hesitantly I walked toward the figure. With my gloved hand, I carefully tugged at the cover. What was I going to see? An ugly, grinning old man made of wood, with hair made of straw? Slowly, slowly I began to unveil the scarecrow. The first thing I saw was the beautifully sculpted hair, then the forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, and chin. The experience was intense and unreal. I felt my knees shaking. I whispered, "What is this? Am I dreaming? Together Günter and I used all our strength to lift the figure to a standing position. Layers of spiderwebs and dirt covered the wooden lady. What emerged from history's darkness looked like a saint. As we stood at attention in front of her, the light from the flickering candles and the powerful music created a sacred atmosphere. Everything else around us ceased to exist. The world stood still as questions whirled in my head. Who are you? Who made you? Where did you come from? ____________________________
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_________________________ What happened to the “Jenny Lind” Nightingale Clipper Ship Figurehead at Sotheby´s? The background __________________________
__________________________ In 2007 I decided to put the unique Jenny Lind/Nightingale figurehead up for auction at Sotheby’s New York branch. Finally the only one of two saved figureheads from the extreme American clipper ship era was going home. The Setup In an article on “Jenny” by Wendy Moonan in N.Y.T. January 4, 2008, two weeks before the auction, antiques dealer Ryan Cooper expressed his allegation of the Jenny Lind figurehead. Mr Cooper was allowed to express his doubts without presenting any facts. He said: "In my opinion it is not the original figurehead from the Nightingale. If it was from the Nightingale, and in my opinion that's a real stretch,it has to be a replacement. It has no correspondence to American figureheads at all. The carving is typically Scandinavian." On January 6, I sent an e-mail to Nancy Druckman to ask if she considered a more detailed response to the allegation of Ryan Cooper. She said that in cases like this it better to leave things be. Unfortunately, in this case, she was terribly wrong. Nancy didn’t realise that figurehead collectors and dealers belong to a very small and easily affected society. Another thing Mr Cooper didn’t say was that he and his friend contacted Peter Randall – publisher for the Portsmouth Marine Society – in December 2000 to ask him to cancel the project with the Nightingale figurehead book. __________________________
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___________________________ ECS - We are saddened by this murky, unsettling, and unjust aftermath of the clipper ship Nightingale Jenny Lind Figurehead saga, and wish that things had come out differently for Karl for his noble efforts. So much of our American clipper ship history has been lost for so many years and when something as precious as a genuine figurehead from a clipper ship turns up like this, we wonder why maritime historians on this side of the pond could not do more to claim it as our own, a national treasure, purchase it at its true value, and display it in an honored permanent collection in an American maritime museum. ___________ |
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_____________________________ The Nightingale's Jenny Lind is one of the most historically important American figureheads. It will fascinate collectors interested in maritime history and American folk art, but furthermore people interested in - Jenny Lind-memorabilia - items from the slave trade, and from the Civil War. During the last year I have been giving talks on the figurehead at several museums in Sweden. The figure is a masterpiece and the only Mason Carving known to survive. My hope for the future is that the Jenny Lind figurehead will be bought by a philanthropist, institution, or corporation and then be donated to a museum. At a public display it can contribute to educational efforts about Jenny Lind, the work of John Mason, and the clipper ship era. _____________________________
_____________________________ In January 2006 the South Street Seaport Museum will open an exhibition on Clipper Ships and the Nightingale figure. You are welcome to visit the old lady. She looks quite a bit better in the wood, so to speak, than in photos. I attach some photos of the figure and a photo of one of the Nightingale's deckhouse still standing on an island outside Kragerö in Norway.
Sincerely, Karl Eric Svärdskog ______________________________
_____________________________ ECS - Karl can be e-mailed at: k_e_svardskog@hotmail.com. For more information concerning the book: Jenny Lind - and the Clipper Nightingale Figurehead Portsmouth Marine Society Box 147 Portsmouth, NH 03802 www.perpublisher.com/pms27.html ______________________________ And so begins the hunt for information that takes the author on his quest to unravel the mystery that leads him to believe that the scarecrow is, indeed, the Jenny Lind figurehead of the clipper ship Nightingale. Along the way Karl falls under the enchanting spell of the legend of Jenny Lind and opera, even though he is happily married to his wife, Elisabeth. Karl captures the "Jenny Lind Fever" in grand style for 30 pages with lots of pictures in chapter two. Karl was also encouraged by the uncovered fact that Kragerø in southern Norway was the Nightingale's home harbor during her last twenty years at sea. One of her deckhouses was preserved on the island of Kirkeholmen, outside Kragerø. The Scandinavian marine museums yield more clues. The research-quest stirs up interest among his acquaintences and the Scandinavian public, and the research trails lead in numerous directions. Many adventures follow as Karl tries to put all the missing pieces of the puzzle together on this personal odyssey that has become an obsession and the biggest event of his life. This is Karl's tale to tell, and the reader soon becomes swept up in the enthusiasm of the quest. ____________________________
.____________________________ One trail leads to all the books about the American clipper ship era that Karl can lay his hands on in his attempt to ferret out all the Nightingale information he can, and he puts together a very detailed history of the clipper Nightingale - certainly one of the most interesting histories of the clipper ship era. I, for one, learned a few things about this clipper that I didn't know before. His adventurous, scholarly quest takes him to the United States to visit all the major New England maritime museums, Boston, New York City, Wilmington, Delaware, and Washington D.C. And his further research pays off as more pieces of the puzzle come together. In the authors words, "The circle closes." At long last the credibility of the quest begins to sink in and be taken seriously by many of the maritime history museum establishment folks on this side of the pond, for Karl has built a most convincing case after four long years of hard work. It's all here in this book and any enthusiast of the clipper ship era will find it a very good read, I certainly did. An interesting Appendix chapter is included: "Nightingale" A Clipper Ship and Her Commander, by Frank Jewett Mather, M. A., that originally appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, November 1904. This is an exciting first-hand account of the Nightingale and her commander, Samuel W. Mather, by his son, about a voyage in 1853 from New York to Melbourne, Australia, and then on to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Whampoa, and London. Karl flew back to the USA in September 2005 for another visit to pick up the Jenny Lind figurehead at the Mystic Seaport Museum to take her down to the South Street Seaport Museum, where she will be on display for a while. Karl invited me to meet up with him at the museum when he arrived, to be there when the figurehead was taken out of her packing crate, and get the chance to meet "Jenny." I went down to New York City
that day to the museum and met Karl, along with Jeff Remling,
Director of Operations and Curator of Collections, and after a
pleasant lunch, assisted them in uncrating the Jenny Lind figurehead
and standing her up in the gallery. Upon a close inspection, there
is no doubt in my mind that this is, indeed, the long-lost figurehead
of the clipper ship Nightingale, and I stood there in awe
with the awareness that Jenny had finally arrived back in the
port city that she had departed from 152 years ago on May 19,
1853, juxtaposed to the bow of the Nightingale, bound for
Australia, China, and London at the height of the clipper ship
era. A quiver of excitement ran through me as I gazed upon Jenny
for the first time and certainly understood why Karl had gone
on this quest. I urge everyone to visit the South Street Seaport
Museum and take a look at the Jenny Lind figurehead for yourselves,
see some of the magnificient clipper ship paintings on the gallery
walls, including those of James Buttersworth and John Stobart,
and let your imaginations take you back to the golden age of sail.
For maritime history comes alive at the __________________________
__________________________ A Lethal Blow __________________________ The conspiracy __________________________
__________________________ The Aftermath How come that Mr Ryan Cooper of Massachusetts with his opinion overcame experts like Without doubt we can state that Mr Cooper's allegation of the Jenny Lind figurehead in the N.Y.T. hurt the piece irreparably. It hurt Revell Carr, Nancy Druckman and Sotheby’s, let alone myself. First weekday after the auction I visited Nancy Druckman at Sotheby’s. ___________________________
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