Amphorae are terracotta containers used for trade as their unique shape allowed them to fit snugly together in a ship’s hull. Since the Neolithic period, this shape has been in use and migrated to Europe during the first millennium BCE.

In the catalog I noticed a Japanese pillar clock, called a shaku dokei, up for auction. While updating the value I noticed a name on the clock’s storage box—’C. E. Thorburn, USN’. Whenever I run across a name, especially one this unique, I immediately try to see if I can uncover the history of the original owner.

Examine navigational instruments used by the Europeans during the Golden Age of Sail.

In this edition of Beyond the Frame, we explore the emotionally complex act of waiting - especially for the return of a loved one. In the painting we see a women and child standing on a cobblestone walkway looking out to see. How long have they stood here waiting? Who are they waiting for? Will they ever return?

The Mariners’ Museum and Park has thousands of prints in our collection, and one of my recent projects has been to catalog the prints and engravings from a German book titled Meyer’s Universe, or Illustration and Description of the Most Remarkable and Strangest Things in Nature and Art all over the World.