THE MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, THE MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY

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THE MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY

Details

THE MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY
A bullet mounted in a wasp-shaped metal plate, the plate engraved above the bullet: 'This Bullet ½5 of a lb was the Allowance of Bread which Supported 18 Men for 48 days Served to each person three times a Day', and on the obverse: 'Under the Command of Captn Willm Bligh from the 28 of April, 1789 to the 14 of June following', approx. 2½in. (6.3cm.) high.

Provenance

William Bligh (1754-1817) and thence by descent to the present owners.

Literature

Rev. T.B. Murray. op.cit, illustrated p.33 'Lieut. Bligh's gourd, cup, bullet-weight, and book.' and p.34: 'The bullet is set in a small wasp-shaped metal plate, which Bligh afterwards used to wear suspended by a riband round his neck. Above the bullet are these words:
This bullet, ½5 of a lb, was the allowance of bread which supported 18 men for 48 days, served to each person three times a day.
On the obverse:
Under the command of Captain Will.Bligh, from the 28th April, 1789, to the 14th June following.'

Exhibited

Greenwich, National Maritime Museum, Mutiny on the Bounty, April-Oct. 1989, no.88 (part).

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium

Lot Essay

'Hitherto I had issued the allowance by guess, but I now made a pair of scales, with two cocoa-nut shells; and having accidentally some pistol-balls in the boat, 25 of which weighed one pound, or 16 ounces, I adopted one, as the proportion of the weight that each person should receive of bread at the times I served it.' (W. Bligh, A Voyage to the South Sea ..., London, 1792, p.184).

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