The NRG's Maritime Institution Survey

VENTURA COUNTY MARITIME MUSEUM

Survey submitted by Bob Scott, February 21, 2005

Executive Director:  Mark Bacin

Address: 2731 So. Victoria Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93035
Contact:  Jackie Cavish, Curator of Art
Tel/fax: 805-984-6260 / 805-984-5970
E-mail:  VCMM@aol.com
Hours: 1100-1700 Daily
Visitors: 32,000/yr

Mission Statement: To provide a rewarding Museum experience based on the age of sail and to enhance the understanding of our rich maritime heritage through world-class maritime art, unique ship models, dynamic exhibits and educational programs.

Use of the Collection: Archives accessible by appointment. No electronic access. Will respond to written inquiries within approximately 3 days. Will reproduce documents and photos. Call for quote.

Collection Content:

  • General areas - Ship design and development, ship model building, local coastal history, maritime art. 17th - 20th centuries.
  • Library - 1300 volumes, 100 vessel technical drawings. Collection includes British Admiralty charts, W.A. Fairburn shipbuilding documents and the William Webb (2 vol) Plans of Wooden Vessels, 1840-1869.
  • Paintings - 119 displayed, 8 stored. Mostly oil on canvas, some engravings. Included are the following:
    • Abbot, Lemuel F.  “Horatio Viscount Nelson” (Engraving)
    • Atkins, Samuel  (1760-1810)
      • “A Busy Dutch Harbor” (W/C)
      • “East Indiaman ‘Woodford Near Plymouth” (W/C)
    • Backhuysen, Ludolf (1631-1708)
      • “A View of the Texel With Numerous Vessels” )O/Panel)
      • “Tsar Peter the Great’s Boeir off Amsterdam” )O/Panel)
    • Bennet, Harry  (1908-1986)   “Ford’s Fleet”  (O/C)
    • Bentham-Dinsdale, John (1927- )
      • “Charles II Reviewing the Fleet After the Battle of Sole Bay,1672” (O/C)
      •  “Aftermath of the Battle of Trafalgar” (O/C)
    • Blanch, Wm   b. 1905
      • “Confederate Ironclads” (O/C)
      • “Battle of Cape St. Vincent” (O/C)  
    • Blossom, Christopher, "Challenge" Rounding up...San Francisco..,1853" (O/C)
    • Brookings, Charles (1723-1750)
      •  “Morning,A Two-Decker in a Light Breeze” (O/C)
      • “Merchantman Becalmed with Cutters and Luggers” (O/C)
    • Buttersworth, Thomas (1768-1842)
      •  “A Sea Battle, Dance’s Action, 4th February, 1804” (O/C)
      • “A British Frigate Pursuign a French Privateer” (O/C)
      • “Napoleonic War, Frigate Action” (W/C)
    • Carmichael, John wilson (1800-1868),
      •  "English Fleet at Sea During a Storm, 1854"  (O/C)
      • “A Royal Navy Frigate and Fishing Boats off Holy Island, Northumberland” (O/C)
    • Christy, R.
      • “Gee, I Wish I Were A Man”  (Poster)
      • “I Want You”  (Poster)
    • Clarke, William (1803-1833)  “The Barque Sir Charles Napier Beating Down theFirth” (O/C)
    • Cooke, Edward William (1811-1880)  “Unloading the Catch”
    • Cross, Roy (1924- )
      • "Steamer Adelaide Passing Old Ft. McHenry" (O/C)
      • "Old New Orleans in Late 1870s with...Robert E. Lee and St Louis..." (O/C)
      • "Dreadnought" (Gouache)
      • "Devonshire"  (Guouache)
    • Davidson, Thomas, "Nelson's Last Signal at Trafalgar" (Engraving)
    • Dawson, Montague (1895-1973)
      • "Antiope" clipper ship (O/C)
      • "Brilliant" Clipper ship (O/C)
    • Demers, Donald (1956- ), "Pilot Boats Racing For the Buffalo  (O/C) 
    •  Dixon, Charles Edward (1872-1934), "Off Southsea, 1902" (W/C)
    • Dodd, Louis (1943-)
      • “Eighteenth Century Shipping in the English Channel” (O/B)
      • “Comet 1851-The American Clipper Ship” (O/C)
    • Dodd, Robert (1748-1815)
      • “Mars and Hercules, April 21, 1798”(Engraving)
      • “Engagement Between Serapis and John Paul Jones in ‘Bon Homme Richard”
    • Fisher, Anton (1882-1962)
      • “Home Again ,Gwydyr Castl” (O/C)
      • “Launching a Boat in Rough Seas” (O/C)
    • Gilkerson, William (1936- ),
      •  "Brig Pilgrim in a Gale off Point Conception" (W/C)
      • “Bard’s Wharf” (WC)
    • Hoppner, John, "Lord Nelson" (Engraving)
    • Hoyne, Thomas (1989), "Rivals: Gloucesterman Esperanto Meets Steam Trawler Spray” (O/C) 
    • Hulk, Abraham (1813-1897)
      • "Shipping in a Stiff Breeze" (O/C)
      • "Fishing Boats in an Estuary" (O/C)
    • Jacobsen, Antonio (1849-1921)
      • "New York", 1929” (O/B)
      • "Havel, The Last Single Screw Atlantic Single Built" (O/C)
      • “The SS Sutherland on her Maiden Voyage, 1901” (O/C)
    • Joy, William  (1803-1867)  “Troopship at Anchor” (WC)
    • Joyce, Marshall (1912- ), "Summer Sun, Schooner on the High Seas” (O/C)
    • Kennedy, Scott  b. 1956      “The Dredge”  (W/C)
    • Koekkoek, Hermanus (1815-1882) “Mending Nets by the Sea” (O/C)
    • Luny, Thomas (1759-1837), "Vice Admiral Cornwallis Manoevering Against the French, 1795" (O/C)
    • Monamy, Peter (1681-1749)  “A British Man-of-War Saluting With a Merchant Ship in the Background” (O/C)
    • Orme, Donald  “Nelson Boarding Two Spanish Ships” (Engraving)
    • Paton, Richard (1717-1790)  “Shipping in the Downs” ((O/C)
    • Peeters, Bonaventue (1614-1652), "A Naval Action Between Dutch Shipping Including the Flagship Zwolle and Barbary Corsairs" (O/B)
    • Porcellis, Julius (1610-1654)  “Shipping in Stormy Seas” (O/B)
    • Poster, Recruiting, Pallas  (Printed)
    • Poster, Recruiting ,  Encouraging Seamen, (Printed)
    • Poster, Recruiting, Calling Royal Tars (Printed)
    • Powell, Charles Martin (1775-1824), "A British Man of War with Dutch Sailing vessels in a Choppy Sea" (O/C)
    • Raleigh, Charles Sidney (1830-1925), "Down Easter Celia”
    • Salmon, Robert (1775-1844),
      •  "Outward Bound" (O/B)
      • “American Schooner Under Sail With Heavy Seas” (O/C)
      • “An English Merchantman Off the Liverpool Waterfront on the River Mersey” (O/C)
      • “Shipping on the Firth of Clyde” (O/C)
    • Schetky (1778-1875) “Lord Anson’s Arrival at Spithead With Prizes After May 3, 1747 Cape LFinisterre Action”
    • Stanfield, George (1793-1867) “Shipping in the Zuyder Zee” (O/C)
    • Stobart, John (1929- )
      • "San Francisco, Vallejo Street Wharf in 1863" (O/C)
      • “Capetown: William M. Hales Towing Out Past the Clock Tower at Dawn in 1886”  (Print)
      • “Chicago, Entrance to the Chicago River” (O/C)
      • “Mystic Seaport, Showing the Charles W. Morgan at Chubb’s Wharf by Moonlight” (Proof)“London:
      • The Clipper Nightingale Towing Out Past Greenwich, 1852” (O/C)
      • “Cleveland: Moonlight on the Cuyahoga River” (Print)
      • “Sunrise Over Nantucket" (O/C)
      • “Sunrise Over Nantucket” (Print)
      • “Galveston: The Bark Elissa Leaving Port, 1884(Print)
      • “Georgetown, Moonlight on the Potomac River” (Print)
      • “Georgetown: Potomac Wharf” (Print)
      • “Hartford: A View of the Connecticut River” (Print)
      •  “Milwaukee: A View of the Inner Harbor at Sunset, 1880” (Pint)
      • “Nantucket Sunrise, 1835” (Print)
      • “Newport Beach: The Pavilion Overlooking the Harbor, 1910) (Print)
      • “New York: Maiden Lane by Gas Light From a Ship at Pier 19 in 1892” (Print)
      • “Pittsburgh: A Sidewheel Steamer” (Print)
      • “Pittsburgh: The Monongehela Waterfront” (Print)
      • “Rowayton: The 5-mile River, Connecticut” Print”
      • ‘Savannah: Moonlight Over the Savannah River, 1850”
      • “San Francisco: Cowell’s Wharf in 1866” (Print)
      • “ San Francisco; Dashing Wave Entering the Golden Gate, 1872” (Print)
      • “St. Louis: The Gateway to the West, 1878” (Print)
      • “St.  Louis: A View Throught the Arches of the Eads Bridge” (Print)
      • “Sydney:  Passenger Ship Parmatta “ (Print)
    • Swaine, Francis (1715-1782)  “A Squadron of the Red Off the South Coast”
    • Thimgan, David (1955- )
      • “Abbie Off  the Northern California Coast" (O/C)
      • “Brooklyn Lumber Schooner 1901-1930" (O/C)
      • “Claverdon at Portland" (O.C)
      • "Thermopylae and Ariel Foochow" (O/C)
      • “Spartan and Schooner in Port” (O/C)
      • “USCG Cutter Melon”  (Print)
    • Turner, Joseph M.W. (1775-1851)
      • " TheDeath of Nelson" (Detail) (Burnett Engraver)
      • "'Nelson's Ship Victory in the Battle of Trafalgar" (Cother Webb Engraver)
    • Van de Velde the Younger, Willem,   (1633-1707)
      • “A Kaag and a Smalschip Under Sail” (O/C)
      •  The Royal Sovereign and Other Shipping In a Light Breeze” (O/C)
    • Wagner, Frank (1931-1996)
      • “Afternoon Trials Off Bristol With the Herreshoff Family and Guests” (G/B)
      • “Freedom on a Beat” (G/B)
    • Webster, George (1797-1832),
      •  "Ship of the Line  Near Dover Cliffs" (O/C)
      • “A Naval Two-Decker Hove To Off the Dover Coast With a Small Yawl” (O/C)
      • “Naval Two-Decker Under Sail” (O/C)
      • “A Naval Two-Decker off Portsmouth With a Pilot Boat and a Small &Yawl” (O/C)
    • Wells, Thomas (1916- )
      • “Passat on Day of Departure, 1939” (O/B)
      • "'Zaca and  T. Vega Off Santa Catalina...",1955 (O/B)
    • Whistler, James McNeil (1834-1903)
      • “View of the Eastern Extremity of Anacapa Island  (Engraving)
      • Preliminary Survey of Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands (Engraving)
    • Whitcombe, Thomas (1763-1868), “Shannon Capturing Chesapeake” (Print)
    • Willaerts, Adam (1577-1664)  “Dutch Men-of-War off a Rocky Coast With Fishermen On the Beach With their Catch”   (O/B)
    • Wright, Bert 
      • “Westminster at Sunset” (Acrylic)
      • “Fisherman’s Wharf, Witch of Wood” (W/C)

o       Ship Models - 72 displayed, 8 stored. Includes the following:

o        Prisoner of war models (CA 1800):

      • HMS CEASAR - 70 gun ship of the line
      • HMA NELSON-120 gun ship of the line
      • HMS PANDORA-24 gun frigate
      • HMS ROYAL SOVEREIGN - 100 gun ship of the line
      • LE TONNAN - 104 gun ship of the line
      • Unknown  - 100 ship of the line
      • Unknown-94 ship of the line
      • Unknown 80 ship of the line
      • Unknown - 70 gun frigate

o       Edward Marple, model builder, collection:

      • CHARLES W. MORGAN (ca 1900) - New England whaler, 5/32", solid hull kit, added detail
      • HMS CONQUERER (1790) - British 74 gun ship of the line, 1/8", plank on frame
      • HMS ENDEAVOUR (1768) - British collier used for Capt. Cook's first Pacific discovery voyage, 1/5", plank on frame
      • LEON (1880) - British collier, 3/16", plank on frame
      • HMS PRINCE (1788)-British 60 gun second rate. Unfinished
      • ROBERT E. LEE (1866) - US river sidewheel steamboat, 3/16", plank on frame
      • HMS ROYAL CATHERINE (1756) - British 2d rate, 3/16", plank on frame
      • HMS ROYAL GEORGE (1756) - British 108 gun ship of the line, 3/16", plank on frame
      • HMS SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS (1637) - British 100 gun ship of the line, 3/16", plank on frame
      • SWORDFISH (1851) - US clipper, 3/32", solid hull kit

o        Other ship models include:

      • HMS ALERT (1793)-British 16 gun sloop, 1/8”, plank on exposed frame
      • ALFRED (1778) - British 74 gun ship of the line, 3/16'(?), plank on exposed frame, by M.W. Brown
      • ASTROLABE (ex COQUILLE) (1811) - French corvette, 1/4", solid hull, by J. Stephen Murray
      • Balsa canoe, Ayamara, (1980) –Lake Titicaca, Peru, reed built  1”
      • Bireme, (100-200)-Roman man of war with ram, 3/16”, solid hull
      • HMAT BOUNTY (ex BETHIA) (1789) - British ship rigged vessel used by Capt. Bligh, 1/8" and 1/4", plank on frame, by J. Stephen Murray
      • Chumash Tomol
      • Chumash Ti’at
      • COMET (1851)-US clipper, ¼” plank on exposed frame, by Michael Castagliola
      • USS CONFEDERACY (1778) 40 gun frigate, last of the “galley frigates”
      • USS Constitution (1779) 44 Gun Frigate by Huber
      • CUTTY SARK (1869) - British clipper, 1/4", plank on frame, by J. Stephen Murray
      • Dhow, Sambak (1940) - Bahrain arab, lateen rig, 3/16", solid hull, by Paul Jones
      • FAUST (contemporary) - Norwegion M/S car carrier, 1/16"
      • Dutch jacht (1670) - Dutch early ketch rig, plank on frame
      • HMS HALIFAX (ca1768)  10 gun schooner
      • GOLDEN HIND (ex PELICAN) (1570) - 1/8" and 1/4", plank on frame, Sir francis Drake's ship, J. Stephen Murray
      • HARVEY, Topsail schooner
      • HMS IRIS (ex HANCOCK) (1777) - Continental navy 32 gun frigate, captured by british, 1/4"(?), plank on frame, by J.M. Brown
      • HMS PEREGRINE GALLEY (ex CAROLINE, ROYAL CAROLINE) (1749), British 20 gun frigate, 1/8", plank on frame
      • HMS PHOENIX (1672) - British 56 gun ship of the line, 1/8"(?), solid hull, by J. Stephen Murray
      • HMS SEAHORSE (1748) - British 36 gun frigate, 1/4", plank on frame, Nelson's first ship as midshipman, by James Cutler
      • SAMBAK Modern version of the Arab dhow
      • SEEADLER (1878)  German WWI commerce raider
      • HMS SERAPIS (1779) - British 44 gun frigate, 1/8", plank on frame, captured by John P. Jones
      • HMS VICTORY (1765) - British 102 gun ship of the line.  Two models 1/4"and 1/8", plank on frame, Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar, by J. Stephen Murray 
      • Mersey No. 41 Hopper dredge (1920) - British builder's model, 1/4", solid hull
      • JERIMIAH O'BRIEN (1945) - US liberty ship, 3/16", solid hull, by Jim Berger Junk, chinese (contemporary), 1/4", solid hull, by J. Stephen Murray
      • Korean Turtle Ship (1592)  Solid hull by an unknown builder
      • LA FLORE AMERICAINE (1784) - 28 gun French frigate, 1/4", plank on frame, by J. Stephen Murray
      • LE INDISCRET (1790) - Tripoli Xebec, 1/4", plank on frame, lateen rig, carved crew
      • LE PROTECTEUR (1760) - French 64 gun ship of line, 1:75, plank on frame, award winner
      • USS KEARSARGE (1862)-Steam sloop, solid construction by unknown builder
      • LE SUPERBE ( ) - French 74 gun ship of the line, 1/8", solid hull, by J. Stephen Murray
      • LOUISA MORRISON (1868) - US lumber schooner, plank on frame
      • MALEK ADHEL (1846) - US brig, plank on frame with sails, possible slaver
      • HMS MARS (1793) - British 74 gun ship of the line, 1/4", plank on frame, Dockyard type model-  Adm Hood's ship at Trafalgar.
      • MARY (1670) - British sloop, solid hull, first recorded yacht
      • MAYFLOWER (1620) - British merchant, 1/4" and 1:50, plank on frame, Puritan's vessel, by J. Stephen Murray
      • USS MAYFLOWER (ca 1890) Presidential yacht
      • OLIVER CROMWELL (1776) -20 gun corvette, 1:36 scale plank on exposed frame
      • OTTA (1950s) - general cargo motor ship, builder's model, solid hull
      • PILGRIM (1825)  Trader brig.  Plank on frame by Richard Walton
      • POLARIS (1820) - British whaleship, solid hull
      • RICHARD ROBINSON - Clipper packet built in 1855 in Thomaston, Maine.  The model was built by William Robinson, son of the owner/captain.
      • QUEEN OF THE SEAS (1852) - US clipper, 3/32", solid hull, from Wells Fargo Bank collection
      • SAN JUAN (ex SAN JUAN NAPAMUCENO) (1800) - Spanish gunship, 3/16", plank on frame
      • SUTTON TIDE (1995) - US M/V utility oil service workboat, 1/4", solid hull
      • USS NIAGARA (1813) - Comm Perry's flagship, 1/8", solid hull
      • VA PRIVATEER (1889) - US topsail schooner, 1/8", solid hull, by Honore Leclerc
      • Viking long ship-May be a model of the Oseberg ship
      • WASA (1628) Royal Swedish ship of the line

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