The Friendship, 1797

We were in Salem today, at the Peabody-Essex Museum, where we saw this model of the ship Friendship (built in 1797). View it large to enjoy the detail.

The model was made on the ship by the second mate and the carpenter during a voyage in 1802-4 from Salem to Sumatra (models were often made on board this way). On the left is a portrait of a prominent mercantile tycoon of this era in Salem.

The main goal of our visit was a marvelous exhibition of Dutch (and a bit of Flemish) art of the 17th century from a private collection in New England--extremely high quality. It was exquisitely displayed--after closing this weekend it will travel to San Francisco and Houston.