Maine and the Asian Trade

Capt. Butman was captain of the Searsport-built ship William H. Conner in 1891, which was but one of eight local vessels to sail to Australia just in the first quarter of 1889.

The Belle of Bath was launched in May, 1877 in Bath, Maine, by Goss & Sawyer; 1418 tons; length 203.9 ft, beam 39 ft., depth 24.3 ft. She was built for Parker M. Whitmore et al. and sold to Searsport parties in 1883 for $47,500. She was destroyed by fire in June, 1897, while bound from New York to Hong Kong loaded with case oil (kerosene). The Belle of Bath was captained by William G. Nichols and Henry G. Curtis of Searsport. This painting, done by an unknown Chinese artist, was given to Penobscot Marine Museum by the Nichols family.

British ship Bangalore, Captain Ray D. Congdon, 1893. The ship is loading at Tide Water Oil Works, Bayonne, with 65,000 cases of "case oil" for Calcutta. Case oil is kerosene, shipped in wooden "cases," a frame that held two 5-gallon tins of oil.

She was an iron ship built in England in 1886 and sold to the Maine Navigation Company in 1899 whereupon she was put under US registry and continued in the case oil trade.

From 1900 to 1908, the Bangalore was commanded by Captain Phineas Banning Blanchard of Searsport.

Engraving from Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, performed in the years 1852, 1853, and 1854, under the command of Commodore M.C. Perry, United States Navy, 1856.

Austrian, American, French, and British and Danish flags fly in front ot the Hongs (merchant's compounds or building complexes) in Canton. On the river two Royal Navy barges row.

Watercolor port painting of Canton.

While Commodore Matthew Perry is best known for his two visits to Japan, he also spent time in China.

Engraving from Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, performed in the years 1852, 1853, and 1854, under the command of Commodore M.C. Perry, United States Navy, 1856.

Laquered sewing boxes like this one were frequently found in Maine deepwater captains' homes, a useful gift or something that a captain's wife might have bought for herself when shopping in Canton. Chinese lacquered sewing box from Canton. Gilt chinoiserie, with carved ivory implements inside.