Name/Title
CoronetDescription
Framed dimensions: 41" wide, 25" high, 4" deep.
Comment on Tides Institute & Museum of Art facebook post, January 19, 2023 of Coronet model by Ben Fuller, former curator at the Penobscot Marine Museum: Ben Fuller
I suspect that it is a Willis who worked out of New York, Coronet's home port. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_H._Willis. FYI, Coronet is in the process of a massive rebuild getting a new hull. Just moved to Mystic Seaport Museum.
Relief model of the yacht, "Coronet," on permanent loan from the Kimball Family Trust, 2019. Signed permanent loan agreement on file.
From hand typed pages in notebook about the Coronet relief model and accounts of races by the Coronet:
"The framed replica of the Coronet, hanging above, was made shortly after the race by a marine artist in Boston whose identity is at present, lost.
It is a combination of several "arts". Against an oil background, the bird-like vessel stands out in relief, her sails made of hand-carved thin wood, covered with white satin. Her penants are hand-embroidered thru the canvas. Her hull is fashioned of white velvet: her rigging of silk strands: her deck fittings done in scarlet, gold and shades of natural-wood. All hand-embroidered in heavy silk floss. Even the figures of her crew are painstakingly embroidered, stitch by stitch, by hand, in realistic poses, at work on deck and in the shrouds.
Spray at her bow is of white silk floss.
This reproduction has been handed down through the Crosby family since the days of the race when Captain John Crosby, (A brother of the winner, Capt Christopher Crosby - and grandfather of the present owner) had this memento of his brother's great race, made and kept in the family in order that the event might be kept alive and treasured by Captain Christopher Crosbys direct descendents. (presents owner, Grace Bibber Carter.)"
Grace Bibber Carter was mother of Gwen Kimball who placed the Coronet model with the Tides Institute.
• From The Quoddy Tides newspaper (Eastport, Maine), April 26, 2002, p.9:
Historic yacht linked to Eastport now being restored
by Susan Esposito
A historic schooner yacht captained by an Eastport native in the 19th century is undergoing a $7 million restoration in Newport, R.I.
The International Yacht Restoration School's (IYRS) restoration of the "Coronet" will take several years, reports Gwen Bibber Kimball, of New Bedford, Mass. Her great-grandfather's brother, Captain Christopher Crosby, was the sailing master for the "Coronet's" first 14 years.
"The vessel, "Coronet" .... was built in 1885 in Brooklyn under the watchful eye of Capt. Christopher Crosby, who was born at Crosby's Beach, Eastport, in 1834 to John and Sophia (Small) Crosby," reports Kimball. "Capt. Crosby chose the timber for the original keelson, which is still in place, and which I have had the privilege of viewing. He is credited with collaborating on her design and personally supervising her construction."
In 1888, captained by Crosby, the 133' "Coronet" became the first American-registered yacht to around Cape Horn. She repeated this feat on three other occasions, as well as twice circumnavigating the globe and winning the third trans-Atlantic race in 1887.
Christopher Crosby died in 1902 and was buried in Hillside Cemetery in his hometown. His grave is marked by the broken mast commemorating the loss of one of his five brothers, Mariner, who was lost at sea with his entire family. Kimball reports that at the International Yacht Restoration School headquarters in Newport, R.I., "there are standing posters of a larger-than-life Capt. Crosby."
The IYRS calls the "Coronet" "an artifact of national and international significance. She is the most original Victorian grand yacht in existence, and the last remaining American schooner yacht of her age, size and degree of preservation."
The restoration involves: rebuilding and restoring the structural integrity of the schooner yacht's hull and deck; removing modern features; reconstructing missing features, such as two mahogany skylights; carrying out a full restoration of the interior spaces and reconstructing her historic schooner rig.
After the "Coronet" is restored to her late 19th century appearance and filing capabilities, she will serve. as an exemplary historic vessel restoration and floating museum
"I go to see the [restoration] process quite often and am amazed the research they are undertaking to do a true restoration," says Kimball of the "Coronet." "I would like Eastporters to be aware of Eastport's role in this multi-million dollar project that is taking place and to have a sense of pride that one of their own is being so honored."
