Aristotle S. Onassis is the ship-owner whose name, more than any one else’s, has been internationally connected with the business acumen of the contemporary Hellene, and the performance of the Hellenes in maritime professions.
In the specially arranged area of the Museum’s hall No. 6, there is a presentation of a part of the Onassis’ collection. It includes decorative and historic items which adorned the spaces on board the yacht “Christina”.
The yacht “Christina”, originally built in 1943, in Canada, as a convoy escort, was bought in 1953 by Aristotle Onassis, who converted her into a yacht and named her after his daughter. In 1975, after his death and in accordance with his will, the yacht was bequeathed to the Hellenic state, to be used for official trips by the President and the Prime Minister of the country. On 29th August, 1978, she was renamed “Argo”. In 1992, the “Argo”, which had been assigned to the Navy for maintenance and crewing purposes, was de-commissioned and sold. Today, after having been bought back in 1998, by a Hellene businessman, Ioannis P. Papanikolaou, a friend of Aristotle Onassis, she is again in operation, under the name “Christina O”, as a luxurious private yacht.
When the Hellenic state de-commissioned the “Argo”, the Hellenic Maritime Museum, knowing the historical and museum value of the items adorning her spaces, requested from the General Navy Staff, the allotment of this significant collection so that it may be exhibited to the public. Indeed, the collection was donated to the Museum on 23rd July, 1992, and since then, it represents one of its most significant unities.
The Onassis’ collection, consists of historic sailing ships models, twelve made from bone, two wooden and one in a bottle, three engraved sea lion teeth, one engraved sea shell, four models of whaling ship guns, one whaling ship pistol, seven nautical instruments, seven pistols, two knives, two marble tables and one wooden, four models of Onassis’ fleet ships and 31 paintings of various subjects.
Two whaling harpoons, purchased by the Museum in 1993, have been added to this collection for a more complete presentation of the subject of whaling, as presented in the Onassis’ collection. One model of Nelsons’ flagship, “Victory”, made from bone and under the same conditions as the other models was also added in the collection. This is an older donation to the Museum by A. Koumantareas in 1960. Finally, a model of the yacht “Christina”, donated by the ship-owner Michalis Matandos in 2003 was also added.
Whale hunting
One of the subjects of the artistic decoration on board “Christina” was whale hunting. This was a fact, related, to Onassis’ earlier successful business activities in this sector.
One more fact which explains the distinct presence of whale hunting in the yacht’s decoration is that, until her purchase in 1953, Onassis used an ex whaler, the “Olympic Leader” as his yacht and parts of her decorations were transfered on the famous yacht.
Paintings
Three oil paintings and three etchings coloured with water colours, by famous artists and engravers, depicting scenes from whale hunting in the 17th, 18th and early 19th, centuries.
Scrimshaw
With the term scrimshaw the art of carving decorative designs on ivory or mainly on tusks and bones from sea elephants is described. The etymology of the word, which has Dutch roots, is attributed to 18th and 19th century whalers. During their endless hours at sea, they would create various scrimshaws on handy items such as embroidery boxes and needles, cane handles, coat hangers and also on other decorative articles. All these hunting trophies were given as gifts to the loved ones who waited for their return.
The topics of scrimshaw engravings were usually flags, eagles, portraits, but the most impressive, were the ship designs, scenes from every day life on board the ships and scenes from whale hunting.
The jack-knife or the nail cutter were the mariner’s carving tools. The fresh material was carved with a wide bladed knife and was smoothened by a file, or shark skin. The pattern, if not a picture from some book, would first be drawn on paper, which would be pasted on the tooth, or the bone, and then, the outline would be transferred by punching holes through the drawing. The carving of the details was the next stage, which was quite laborious and demanded attention and patience. The carved lines would be coloured with paint, coal, pitch, or other material.
Guns
Many types of whaling guns are also exhibited in the Onassis hall.
Guns on whaling ships are mounted on the stern and have a range of hundreds of metres. The collection has 4 models of such guns, two of which are decorative cigarette lighters.
The “Greeners Light Harpoon Gun” type pistol, of Danish manufacture, is used from small boats when they approach the whale, after it has been hit by the gun. It has a range of tens of meters.
The spears made from bamboo, rope and a metal harpoon, were used by native whalers. The origin of the bamboo leads us to assume that they were Australian natives.
Ships models made of bone
The most significant and impressive section of the Onassis’ collection is the section with the ships models made of bone, works made by French prisoners of the Napoleonic wars. These exhibits were purchased by Onassis from some European art gallery and, placed in special show-cases, decorating the staircase leading from the “Christina” ’s main lounge to the guests cabins.
This collection is rare. In Hellas, we may find 29 such models, of the same historical origin, in the collection of the Maritime Museum of Oinousses, while part of the Onassis’ collection is also housed at the A.S. Onassis Foundation. Similar collections may be found in the British Maritime Museum in Greenwich.
The history of these models is shocking. Britain and Napoleon’s France were at war from 1793 to 1815, during which the so called “armed peace of Amiens” intervened. During this period, apart from the thousands that lost their lives, were huge numbers of prisoners. It is estimated that 122,000 French prisoners were transported to England only. After the few existing prisons were swarming with prisoners, they started to transfer them to laid-up ships, whose holds were converted into prison spaces, or galleys, as named by L. Palaskas in his dictionary, a name which describes the miserable and inhuman living conditions of the prisoners.
Very soon, the need for new prisons appeared, like the Norman Cross built in 1796 and Dartmoor built in 1806 with 7,000 and 6,000 prisoners respectively. Life in these prisons was definitely more tolerable than that of the galleys, but still remained hard, compelling the unfortunate prisoners to name their prisons “stone graves”.
During the endless hours of their solitude, the prisoners sought for some kind of activity, given that no occupations were provided for by the penal system of that period. Therefore, they utilized whatever materials they could find for minor constructions of models of ships and vehicles, jewellery boxes and other small decorative articles. They originally used bones, leftovers from their meals, to construct the models, and they even used their own hair to make the ropes for the sails. Very soon, when the prison guards observed that these constructions were genuine works of art, they started to provide them with box-wood, ivory, animal horns, ebony and mother of pearl, as well as horse hair, and they started to organize small markets outside the prisons, keeping a percentage of the sales.
These models represented historic ships of that period, which the prisoners either knew about, or had served on board. Usually, the reproductions were not exact, as the prisoners had neither the access to building plans, or precise measurements. It was a simulated reproduction, as retained by the prisoners’ memory, inadequate due to poor information, but enriched by an impressive imagination. For example, we notice more cannons than normal, on ships of this period, or models with English names but French rigging. For this reason, today, historians regard them not as accurate models of ships but as works of art which resulted from tragic coincidences.
Engravings
The topics of the 25 coloured lithographs that decorated the “Christina” ’s guest cabins were drawn mainly from Hellenic mythology, history and folklore. There were also romantic representations of historic places and monuments of the Hellenic nation, such as, the port of Constantinople, the Dardanelle straits and the castle of Chios during Turkish occupation. The engravings depicting naval battles, ancient ships, or ships in the middle ages, and also scenes from mythology, are signed by the engraver Giulio Parigi I, and are dedicated to the Prince of Tuscany, while they are dated 1608. This collection also includes portraits of historic personalities of the Hellenic Revolution, such as, Panoutsos Notaras, Ioannis Koletis and Constantine Kanaris, all signed by the British engraver A. Friedel, and dated 1827. The series of lithographs depicting 19th century, Hellenic traditional suits of clothes, from the mainland and the islands, also present a folkloric interest and are signed by the engravers I. Laroque, Mixelle and Leblairc.
Guns and nautical instruments
In the Onassis’ collection, we come across two compasses, two barometers, a model globe, a sextant, a table clock, two knives and seven pistols decorated with representations inspired from nature. These articles, gifts to the owner from his distinguished guests, decorated various places on the yacht.
Furniture
From the furniture of the yacht “Christina”, the Hellenic Maritime Museum obtained two tables with inset semi-precious stones, depicting maps from areas in the Middle East, Hellas and Asia Minor, while on the maps, historical sites and monuments are marked with silver, engraved tiles.
In this collection, a wooden table is also included, which comes from a British pirate ship of the 16th century and had been purchased by Onassis from the Sotheby’s art gallery.
; newwindow.focus())
; newwindow.focus())
; newwindow.focus())
; newwindow.focus())
; newwindow.focus())
Quicktime Player is required
