Metal fragment from "The Great Eastern" ship that lay the Atlantic Cable

Description:

The objects seen here are souvenirs collected by Abby Knight McLane and her husband Allen McLane. The well-traveled couple is thought to have personally gathered the collection, which represents the kind of curio-cabinet collecting that occupied many Americans in the late 1800s.

Though each piece is unique, McLane’s souvenir collection is a typical mix of found objects and items with historical associations: a piece of a cedar doorpost from Government House in St. Augustine, Florida; a stone in the shape of an arrowhead from Mount Pony, near Culpeper, Virginia; “antediluvian oak” from a bog near Killarney, Ireland; a small white stone from the ruins of Pompeii, Italy; and a round metal fragment of the HMS Great Eastern, the ship used in the laying of the Atlantic Cable.

Bequest of Abby Knight McLane, 1919

Location: Currently not on view

See more items in: Political and Military History: Political History, General History Collection, Government, Politics, and Reform, Souvenir Nation

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: The Hussey-Knight-McLane Collection presented by Mrs. Allan McLane

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: PL.033957Catalog Number: 033957Accession Number: 63786

Object Name: iron ship piecepiece of ship

Physical Description: iron (overall material)

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a3-2ca6-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_514461

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