By Tim Barlass
For decades the purpose of these six small brass alloy objects has remained a mystery. They were on board the three-masted cargo and passenger ship Dunbar, which was returning from Plymouth in England when it sank in a gale at Sydney’s South Head in 1857. Only one person out of 122 on board survived.
Since then the wreck has been regularly plundered by treasure hunters. In the 1950s an amnesty was announced and many thousands of items were handed in at the Australian National Maritime Museum.
Conservator Jordan Aarsen at the Australian National Maritime Museum with small bronze animals from the wreck of the Dunbar, which sank off Sydney’s headland in 1857.Credit: Janie Barrett
With no official manifest and centuries of salt water erosion, many of the more unique objects which have no maker’s marks have lost their identity or clues to their original purpose. The items, many about three centimetres long, include baby birds, a duck or sparrow and a snail.
They are made of brass, probably with a high copper content and were thought to possibly be decorative umbrella handles, riding crop knobs, or accessories for walking sticks or canes.
The museum now believes they are likely to be ornate cabinet knobs, each part of a matching set, symbols of Victorian aristocracy during the late 19th century and likely cast in England. The passenger list suggests that many of those on board were reasonably wealthy.
The six animal figurines recovered from the Dunbar.Credit: Janie Barrett
Curator Jordan Aarsen recently decided to examine them more closely and found a threaded hole of small diameter in the base of each.
“ I cleaned one up, it had gunk and rust and things in there which when I removed it under a microscope exposed the thread,” he said.
Conservator Jordan Aarsen at the Australian National Maritime Museum with a gaping fledgling from the wreck of the Dunbar.Credit: Janie Barrett
“A lot of items were in chests on the ship and scuba divers in the mid-1900s came and found coins and other items. One diver, John Gillies, took about 5,000 objects and he did a really good job of cleaning things up.
“There was an amnesty agreement in the 1990s and people who had taken items came forward, thousands of objects were returned.
The Dunbar clipper built in Sunderland in northern England.Credit: Australian National Maritime Museum
“I think small birds are starling babies, unfortunately many baby birds look just about the same. I cleaned the threaded hole and thought the shaft was a bit dainty for an umbrella handle. I was opening a cabinet and thought they seemed like a good size for a jewellery box cabinet. I think they may have come from someone’s personal cabinets that they were bringing back to Australia.”
He said he found pictures of similar handles on cabinets of the same era on the internet and thinks there are more examples in private ownership in Australia.
The Dunbar foundered in heavy seas at South Head.Credit: State Library NSW
Museum director and CEO Daryl Karp said: “This fascinating discovery has piqued the curiosity of all at the museum, and we are now turning to the public and asking anyone who may own these ornate cabinet handles to please to contact us so that we might be able to confirm this discovery.”
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