Tonga, South Pacific
1789
Wood
Pair: length 71½ inches (181.6 cm); whaleboat oar: length 98½ inches (250.2 cm)
Provenance: William Bligh, Tui Tofua (King of Tofua); Shadrach Iloa, Nuku'alofa, Tonga; Rachel Lesiele, Tofua (detailed family tree documenting chain of custody provided to buyer)
These three oars were aboard HMS Bounty at the time of the mutiny of April 28, 1789, one of the most documented events in the history of Pacific navigation. When Fletcher Christian seized the ship and cast Bligh adrift, Bligh and eighteen loyal crew members were set off in the ship's open launch with provisions, navigational instruments, and the oars needed to work the boat. The pair and the whaleboat oar descend through the family of the Tui Tofua, the King of Tofua, the island where Bligh first attempted to land after the mutiny and where one of his crew was killed before the party was driven off. A detailed family tree documenting the chain of custody from that moment to the present is provided to the buyer.
Bligh's subsequent open-boat voyage of 3,618 miles from Tofua to Timor remains one of the most celebrated feats of navigation and seamanship in maritime history, accomplished without charts and with minimal provisions over 47 days. The association of these oars with that voyage and with the specific political figure who received them at Tofua gives them a provenance of unusual historical specificity. The famous engraving depicting Bligh being cast off the Bounty records the moment from which this chain of custody begins, and a copy accompanies the lot.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Tonga, South Pacific
1789
Wood
Pair: length 71½ inches (181.6 cm); whaleboat oar: length 98½ inches (250.2 cm)
Provenance: William Bligh, Tui Tofua (King of Tofua); Shadrach Iloa, Nuku'alofa, Tonga; Rachel Lesiele, Tofua (detailed family tree documenting chain of custody provided to buyer)
These three oars were aboard HMS Bounty at the time of the mutiny of April 28, 1789, one of the most documented events in the history of Pacific navigation. When Fletcher Christian seized the ship and cast Bligh adrift, Bligh and eighteen loyal crew members were set off in the ship's open launch with provisions, navigational instruments, and the oars needed to work the boat. The pair and the whaleboat oar descend through the family of the Tui Tofua, the King of Tofua, the island where Bligh first attempted to land after the mutiny and where one of his crew was killed before the party was driven off. A detailed family tree documenting the chain of custody from that moment to the present is provided to the buyer.
Bligh's subsequent open-boat voyage of 3,618 miles from Tofua to Timor remains one of the most celebrated feats of navigation and seamanship in maritime history, accomplished without charts and with minimal provisions over 47 days. The association of these oars with that voyage and with the specific political figure who received them at Tofua gives them a provenance of unusual historical specificity. The famous engraving depicting Bligh being cast off the Bounty records the moment from which this chain of custody begins, and a copy accompanies the lot.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
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