Mariner's Belt & Sea Bag, ca. 1820
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GUEST:
It's a sea bag that my great-great-grandfather embroidered. I believe it's linen, and they kept their clothes in it. I know everybody asked on the way in, "It's beautiful, what is it?" Well, it's a sea bag. His name was Seth Gibbs, and he was born in 1791, and actually died at the age of 49 in St. Thomas. Somehow, the result of his travels. And he had two sons, both of whom were sea captains.
APPRAISER:
So you come from a mariner's family?
GUEST:
Yes, very much so, and New England.
APPRAISER:
We quickly looked up a little about your family, and indeed, Seth Gibbs married Delilah Perry in 1818. Yes indeed, they had two sons, Nathan and William.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
And what's so fantastic about this sea bag that you brought in today, and this money belt, is of course, there's William's name right there on the money belt. And the correction is, is that we don't think Seth embroidered this sea bag.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
His wife, Delilah, would have done it, and it probably would have been done shortly after they were married in 1818, probably in about 1820. And what's a miracle is this survival, this fantastic needlework picture, and I'll just turn it. We see the wonderful bird and the boats.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
And we'll turn it over here. These depictions of farmers and another great vessel here, and I'll turn it again just to show it from the front. This is like having 12 needlework pictures all around the money bag, this fantastic battle scene that's going on right here. You see all the cannon and the American flag, fighting the British here.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
It's an amazing document. You see this wonderful image here of a woman waiting. Maybe it's Delilah herself, for her husband to come from the sea. It is a fantastic piece of history, a piece of Americana. You just don't see needlework that survives, and you've obviously protected it in this box. We think, conservatively, it's a $30,000 to $50,000 piece.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
How 'bout that?
GUEST:
Wow!
APPRAISER:
It's the best mariner's bag I think I've ever seen.
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