1948.1.1c. 1780Lignum vitae, wrought iron410 × 180 × 140 mm
The first thing written into the register, on the day the museum opened. Two lignum vitae sheaves turning in an iron strop, worn oval by rope. It came off a crane on the wharf at Greenwich, where sugar and logwood went out and everything else came in.
Lignum vitae is dense enough to sink and oily enough to run without grease, which is why the island's wharves used it for two hundred years and why this one still turns.
Accession
1948.1.1
Made
c. 1780
Maker
Unrecorded
Came from
Greenwich Wharf, Trelawny
Material
Lignum vitae, wrought iron
Size
410 × 180 × 140 mm
Kept
Store, bay 2
In store, and you can still see itIt is in store, bay 2. Add it to a request and pick a study day: two tables, Wednesday and Friday, 48 hours' notice, no charge.