A Victorian-Era (c. 1880)Solid-Brass and Mahogany Engraved and Hand-Painted Plaque Honoring the Life of Captain George Shelvocke, Royal Navy
This month’s Antique of the Month from the Historic Johanna Brotch House is a another piece of British maritime history. This one is a solid-brass and mahogany hand-painted celebratory plaque commemorating the amazing life of Captain George Shelvocke, Royal Navy. I have some links below for you providing much greater detail (and which are the sources for my text below), but in sum, Captain Shelvocke began sailing professionally (just like many Bay View lake captains did) at a very young age by today’s standards (he began at age 15). After serving at sea in the Royal Navy in a war between England and Spain, he fell into poverty but was recalled by the Royal Navy when another war broke out between the two countries.
Shelvocke was named captain of the Royal Navy ship HMS Speedwell shortly after his recall. His mission was to use the ship to loot and wreak havoc on anything and everything Spanish. The name for this type of mission was called, “Privateering.” His and his crew’s compensation – officially authorized by the British government – was they got to keep 100% of everything they looted. Not a bad way to compensate a navy, when you think about it.
This action took him to the Pacific coast of South America where, after much success, he became shipwrecked from May-October 1720 on what is today named Robinson Crusoe Island off the coast of Chile. Yes, this is famously the real life island where, eleven years earlier, a previous British ship captain and privateer Alexander Selkirk was famously marooned for five years from 1704-09. It was Selkirk’s stranding on the island that was the subject of the world-famous book titled, “Robin Crusoe,” written in 1719 by Daniel Defoe, though a fictionalized account. Like Selkirk, Captain Shelvocke and his crew also survived their marooning on the island and returned to England. They built a smaller ship on the island’s shore from the wood and parts of the wreck of the HMS Speedwell and then successfully sailed it back home. Shelvocke then retired off of his share of the loot taken as ordered and retired in England a wealthy man. He later wrote a book in 1726 about these and other adventures of his life titled, “A Voyage Round the World by the Great South Sea.” One of these adventures is account of his second officer shooting an Albatross while rounding Cape Horn that later made its way into the famous 1798 poem, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
It appears likely that this brass plaque was part of something else. Perhaps someone or some entity created this and other matching plaques to commemorate famous British naval officers, and this particular one was part of that original collection. It is unknown. Nevertheless, it is confirmed as being c. 1880 and made over 100 years after his exploits. When studied up close, the art and detail of this both engraved and hand-painted onto solid brass plaque is spectacular. The mahogany surround is equally beautiful, carved from one piece of wood. Only the Victorians could produce high quality like this. The ship depicted is likely HMS Speedwell, however, I couldn’t ascertain this for sure. While this antique didn’t belong to George Shelvocke or his ship or crew, it is nevertheless about him and created in England during the Victorian era to honor his sailing adventures, which are spectacular putting it mildly! I hope you enjoy the photos of it!
Read more about Captain Shelvocke, R. N.:
https://www.historicnavalfiction.com/authors-a-z/other-authors/george-shelvocke
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Shelvocke
Read more about Alexander Selkirk (the real life version of Robinson Crusoe):
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-robinson-crusoe-74877644/
Robinson Crusoe Island (location and description) where Alexander Selkirk and later Captain Shelvocke were both marooned:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_Crusoe_Island
Ian McKellan reads, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge:
