Clipper Maritime Antiques

15/05/2026

01/05/2026

? HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT IS BENEATH THE WAVES IN ST.IVES BAY ? well watch 👀 this 😲 and you will find out 🤿 In order to keep the history of the 1854 S.S NILE disaster alive, I decided to make a mini documentary about the disaster 175 years after the fateful event. We finished it a year later, but hey ho ! Been a tad busy 😵‍💫 This was only possible with the expert help from Morag Robertson, Alban Roinard and Tony Mason. We hope you enjoy watching and learning

1 like. "The Wreck of the SS Nile 30 November 1854 St Ives Bay Cornwall"

27/04/2026

We are pleased to announce that we now have a high street shop and showroom once again 👍 You can now view a selection of our Clipper Maritime Antiques, Nautical collectibles & Antique Ship in a Bottle at Gallery 1A - St.Ives, located at 1A Bedford Road, St.Ives, Cornwall, TR26 1SP. We can also offer private viewings by appointment

12/02/2026

It’s always great to get feedback from our customers and to find out about any family links they have to the maritime antiques that we sell 👍
We recently sold this superb pierhead painting of the S.S. MOUNTFIELDS, here is what the new owner sent us:

Good Evening Rob

Delighted to report that ss MOUNTFIELDS safely berthed here this afternoon.

Thank you very much indeed for taking so much trouble with removing the glass, protecting and packing the frame and painting so well. It arrived in excellent condition.
I am very pleased with it.

My late grandfather worked for George Doughty, who ordered this ship from William Gray's yard in West Hartlepool in 1899 (she was launched in January 1901) and traded her for 14 years before selling her to Glasgow owners in 1915. Amazingly, she survived both World Wars and was eventually broken up in Turkey in 1960. An extraordinarily long life for such a ship and a tribute to her builder, William Gray, whose descendants formerly lived across the road from my house. My grandfather didn't do too badly either - his father was lost at sea when grandpa was eight years old, and in spite of losing an eye during WW1 he died peacefully in 1971 at the age of 92.

Thank you again for providing me with this charming piece of local history!

Kind Regards

Absolutely brilliant link and history 👌 this period painting is now certainly in the right hands and ownership 🏆👏👏👏

02/01/2026

A Sextant fit for a king ? This unique and special antique Sextant must have been a bespoke order for somebody special ? This is a double / pillar frame with double gold scales and several unique features - it is engraved: C.W. Dixey, Mathematical Instrument Maker to the Queen, New Bond Street, London. / Gold / Sold by Norie & Wilson. Has anybody seen anything like this before ?

01/01/2026

Wishing all our Facebook followers a happy and healthy 2026 and if you are looking for top quality genuine maritime antiques & nautical collectibles, you will find a great selection here:

https://www.clipper-maritime-antiques.com

21/10/2025

‘Splice the Mainbrace’ ⚓️🇬🇧 its Trafalgar Day today

⚓ Trafalgar 2025 - The Battle

The Battle of Trafalgar unfolded very much as Nelson had planned. The day of 21 October was clear with light winds, which brought the two fleets together at a walking pace. The British fleet was split into two columns and sailing directly towards the French and Spanish ships, so it was the ships leading each line, HMS Royal Sovereign under the command of Admiral Collingwood and HMS Victory under Nelson, which faced the devastating force of their initial broadsides.

As Collingwood attacked the rear, Nelson smashed through the centre of the line. Victory delivered a knockout blow on Villeneuve’s flagship, the Bucentaur, and was then locked in combat at point-blank range with the Redoubtable. This created a gap, and the ships astern of Victory poured through to engage and overwhelm the French.

Having led the way through a hail of shot, the Victory became entangled with a smaller French battleship, the Redoubtable, and it was from her rigging that the bullet was fired which struck Nelson at about 1:15pm as he was pacing the quarterdeck with Captain Thomas Hardy. The ball entered at his left shoulder and cut through a lung and a major artery before hitting his spine.

He was carried to the Orlop Deck where he died three hours later after suffering great pain. His last words were, ‘Thank God I have done my duty.’

The battle, which began at midday, was over by 4.30 that afternoon. The plan Nelson conceived in advance was an overwhelming success; his fleet of 27 ships defeated a French and Spanish force of 33, capturing 17 ships and setting one ablaze.

The death of Nelson had a huge impact on the British public. Nelson became the first non-royal to have a state funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral, his coffin was carried by barge up the Thames, and St. Paul’s itself was flanked by huge captured French and Spanish flags from Trafalgar. Some artefacts from the funeral still survive, including the funeral barge that carried Nelson’s body to St Paul’s which is on display in our Victory Gallery.

https://bit.ly/48dd2Ea

Robert Laurie and James Whittle, 1805

11/10/2025

The iconic brass SHIP’S ENGINE ORDER TELEGRAPH. Invented around 1870, it is a mechanical device used for relaying engine orders from up on the bridge of a ship, down to the engineers in the engine room. The required speed and direction is selected using the levers on bridge telegraph, this is then transferred and replicated by ringing a bell and moving the pointer to display the requested speed and direction on the engine room telegraph. The bridge telegraph usually sits on a vertical freestanding pedestal and it is linked via chains to the engine room telegraph which is mounted on the ships bulkhead.

This superb full size, twin handled repeating example by Chadburn’s has a large face diameter and was probably fitted to a steamship of considerable size. Height = 47 inches / 120cm / Face diameter = 13 inches / 33cm. This example also has the removable auxiliary / emergency oil lantern attached to the side of the head to illuminate the dials at night.

It is a reminder of the large steam powered ships that navigated the worlds oceans and it certainly makes a statement 👌

‘FULL STEAM AHEAD’ 🚢

06/09/2025

This superb pair of Royal Navy / Admiralty Pattern copper Port & Starboard lanterns are off to their new home, they are going into a deep sea divers 🤿 man cave…………and this guy dives really DEEP 😬 - 160 meters deep in actual fact 😲🤯 now I like wreck diving, but not that bleddy deep ⚠️🔱

23/08/2025

The restoration of the first rare antique ship’s bell stand is finally complete 💪, took a while but well worth the effort 👌. (one done👍, only five more left to do 😬)These functional and decorative pieces of maritime art were situated on the foc’sle (near the bow or front) of sailing ships and early steamships during the mid 1800’s to early 1900’s, the Dolphin / Sea Serpent design is steeped in maritime tradition and superstition. The ship’s bell 🔔 was regarded as the heart and soul of the ship and it was a long standing tradition that it was polished by the Boatswain every day 💪. It was rung throughout the day to indicate the time and the end of watches (one ‘ding’ for every half hour that passed, so at the end of a four hour watch ‘eight bells’ were rung) The ship’s bell was also rung during poor visibility to indicate the ship’s location to other vessels nearby, or rung during an emergency such as a fire onboard.