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Legacy of the
MachaultA Collection of 18th-century Artifacts
Catherine Sullivan
Studies in ArchaeologyArchitecture and History
National Historic Parks and Sites BranchParks CanadaEnvironment Canada
©Minister of Supply and Services Canada 1986.
Available in Canada through authorized bookstore agents and other bookstores, or by mailfrom the Canadian Government PublishingCentre, Supply and Services Canada, Hull,Quebec, Canada KIA OS9.
La traduction francaise s'intitule L'heritage duMachault: une collection d'artefacts du XVIIIesiecle (no de catalogue R61-2/9-31F). En vente auCanada par l'entrernise de nos agents librairesagrees et autres librairies, ou par la poste auCentre d'edition du gouvernement du Canada,Approvisionnements et Service Canada, Hull,Quebec, Canada KIA OS9.
Price Canada: $9.50Price other Countries: $1l.40Price subject to change without notice.
Catalogue No.: R61-2/9-31EISBN: 0-660-12067-4ISSN: 0821-1027
Published under the authorityof the Minister of the Environment,Ottawa, 1986.
Editing: Jean Brathwaite.Design: James Miller and Werner Wicke.
The opinions expressed in this report are thoseof the author and not necessarily those of Environment Canada.
Cover photo by Rock Chan; frontispiece photosby David L. Arnold, © National GeographicSociety.
Contents
5 Preface7 Introduction9 The Ship
13 Working the Ship27 Commerce and Trade~33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Weaponry45 Tools and Equipment55 Food and Drink75 Clothing85 Miscellany95 Colour Illustrations
105 Bibliography
Research on the Machault's artifactswas undertaken by a number of ParksCanada's material culture specialistsover many years, and was one of ourearliest experiences of relating domestic and military objects to a marine site.Historic documentation about the shiphad not prepared anyone for the quantities of virtually identical goods thatwere to appear in the excavation. Whichobjects, we asked ourselves, had Francesupplied to save the colony; what hadthe soldiers, sailors, naval and militaryofficers carried aboard for their personal comfort during the crossing;would some of the obviously domesticartifacts have been considered ship's accessories; what portion of the men'spossessions would have been standardissue; how did quantities of Britishmade merchandise get loaded onto thisFrench ship in Bordeaux when Franceand England were actively at war withone another?
Furthermore, the Machault was byno means an undisturbed deposit.Rather than lying in successive occupation layers as it usually does on landsites, later material dropped into thesea over the wreck was subject to thesame forces, and assumed the same distribution pattern, as the 18th-centurymaterial. This intermixing of 18th-century and later material initiated somedebate about introduction dates of specific advances in manufacturing technology and about the origins of someartifacts.
This book presents a portion of theMachault artifacts, selected because theywere very typical or very unusual. 1
Preface
could not have written it but for information generously supplied by my colleagues. Charles Bradley, DouglasBryce, Stephen Davis, Gerard Gusset,Virginia Myles, Ron Whate, EileenWoodhead, and Waiter Zacharchukcontributed research material summarized here, and much encouragement in preparing it.
The photographic work that enhances the manuscript was done byRock Chan except only pp. 14,28, and47 (far right), by George Vandervlugt.Drawings of objects, sometimes basedon little more than small pieces ofunique items, were created by DorothyKappler Larsen (pp. 15, 34, 35, 73, 88),Susan Laurie-Bourque (pp. 25,28, 36,59,64,82), Carol Piper (pp. 14, 18,41),Ron Whate (p. 72), and Derek Ford(p. 19).
Cleaning deposits of various typesfrom delicate surfaces, recovering tinyartifacts from large amorphous concretions, advising on handling and displaying the objects, and preserving andstabilizing the ship's massive hull components all required a great deal ofimagination, persistence, and straighthard work by Parks Canada's Conservation Division in Ottawa. Many deserveacknowledgements for their efforts,but those of Lorne Murdock, ThomasDaley, Robert Marion, and VictoriaJenssen are particularly noteworthy.
Waiter Zacharchuk directed archaeology on the Machault. The projectas a whole owes much to him, and I amgrateful for his assistance with thismanuscript.
5
By the autumn of 1759, while theSeven Years' War raged on in Europe,France's future in Canada was injeopardy. Believing that the British,who had taken Quebec in September,could be driven out of the city and outof the colony, the governor of NewFrance sent his king urgent requests formen, munitions, and provisions to rallythe citizens and retake the capital. InApril 1760 a small fleet left Bordeauxfor Canada. In the Gulf of St. Lawrencethe French learned that a British f1eethad preceded them up the St. Lawrenceand secured the city. Because theyneeded to put ashore to bake bread andtake on fresh water and meat, theFrench harboured in Chaleur Bay, nearthe mission at Restigouche. They sentmessengers overland to report to thegovernor in Montreal.
In the meantime, the French unloaded supplies to feed and clothe theirMicmac allies and refugee Acadians atRestigouche, established shore batteries for defence, and were joined byothers loyal to the French king. Theywere finally found in late June by apowerful British squadron, and the battle that followed was inevitably a Britishvictory.
Parks Canada excavated the Machault, flagship of the little French fleet,two centuries after it sank. The amountof material recovered was enormous;the types of material recovered were not
Introduction
expected. We had expected to findremnants of the supplies destined forthe colony, and little else. However, researchers studying the artifacts believethat the French had cleared from theMachault most of the food, munitions,tools, and other supplies that Francehad sent for the Canadian cause, mostof the personal belongings of the sailors, soldiers and officers, and most ofthe items related to everyday living. Material left behind included the Machaults weaponry, things that had beenlost, broken or discarded, spare partsand tools, mess supplies for those whostayed on board up to the ship's lastmoments, and - in completely unexpected quantities - cargo that theFrench could not have used in the landcamp or that was privately owned. Thegreatest portion of this cargo was private venture merchandise, mainly tablewares, much of which appears tohave been hastily assembled in Bordeaux and stowed in the lowest part ofthe Machault's hold.
On the pages that follow, the artifacts from the Machault reveal aspectsof 18th-century maritime travel, defence at sea, and a variety of dailyhuman activities. Some are specificallymaritime related. Others echo objectsfound on land sites from the Frenchperiod in Canada and in 18th-centuryFrench still-life paintings. Still othersare not often recovered from land sites
7
although we know that they were commonly used at the time. They show thatlSth-century Canadians who could afford to pay were supplied with consumer goods from every part of theglobe. They also confirm the greed ofsome government employees in Canada during the final years of the Frenchregime. These men used public funds
Introduction
to amass private fortunes. The cargo ofconsumer goods was transported at theking's expense to a colony battered byyears of war.
Yet because of the disaster that befell the Machault, we can now present arich and diverse collection of materialgoods from one of France's last shipments to its North American colony.
8
The Ship
Afrigate fume to, drifting slightlyin the wind. (Daniel Lescallier,Traite pratique du greementdes vaisseaux et autres batiments de rn e r. ... [Paris:Clousier, 1791J, PI. 34.)
9
The Ship
A 26-gun, three-masted frigatefrom the 18th century. (DanielLescallier, Traite pratique dugreement des vaisseaux et autres bat irn en rs de mer ....[Paris: Clousier; 1791 j, Pl. 18.)
10
The frigate Machault was launchedin Bayonne in 1758 as a privateer, andlater refitted as a convoy vessel. Noplans of the ship survive, and only portions of the ship remain. There is somecontroversy about the Machault's size,said to have been between 500 and 550tons, and about the number of guns itcarried. However, the Machault wouldhave resembled the vessel illustratedhere. Reconstruction of the Machault'smidsection suggests that the ship wasabout 34 metres long at the keel and 39
The Shipto 41 metres long on the main deck, 11metres wide inside the hull, and 5.5metres high from the bilges to the deck.Below the main deck appears to havebeen a lower deck located aft and probably a rope deck located forward. TheMachault's ribs, floor timbers, and innerand outer planking were made of redoak. Outer planking from the maindeck to below the water line averagednine centimetres thick to reinforce thehull and protect it from enemy cannonballs.
II
Working the Ship
Pas-Caert van Terra Nova....Amsterdam, [1670-1705]. (Public Archives Canada, NationalMap Collection, NMC 24907.)
13
Standing rigging - stays andshrouds - hold masts upright on sailing vessels. Stays are large-gauge ropesrunning forward of each mast. Theshrouds, networks of ropes that securethe masts from the sides, are arrangedin vertical sections. Upper shrouds areconnected by deadeyes and lanyards to
Standing Rigging
futtock plates that attach one set ofshrouds to a lower set through woodenplatforms on the masts. The lowest setsof shrouds are linked by deadeyes andlanyards to massive chains anchored inthe vessel's hull. Taking up the lanyardsbetween pairs of deadeyes tigh tens theshrouds.
Iron futtock plate attachedto a three-hole deadeye
14
A three-hole elm deadeye and ironchain sections anchor;d a shroudto the hull. This one measures 21metres long.
Standing Rigging
15
A running block has one or moremoveable sheaves (grooved wheels) rotating on axle pins inside a shell madeof a single piece of wood. Used much asblock and tackle is today - to moveheavy objects and work sails and rigging- and to manoeuvre cannon, hundreds of running blocks, set up inpulley systems, were needed to operatethe Machault. Most shells have deeply
Two views ofa single-sheave running block in the shape mostcommonly found on theMachault
Running Blocksscored troughs at their bases and uptheir sides to accommodate the roperings that held the blocks in position.
Running blocks used in the toptackle were tightly bound with ironstrapping; a hook on the strap anchored the block to a mast cap. Toptackle blocks raised and lowered the upper sections of masts.
16
Each of these running blocks wasdesigned for a special purpose. Thecheek block would have been lashed topand bottom to an upper mast and usedto work one of the auxiliary stay sails.The mast truck, originally with twosheaves, encircled an upper mast; itssheaves were threaded with signalhalyards to raise and lower signallingpennants for ship-to-ship or ship-to-
Running Blocksshore communication. The singleshelled long tackle block with two differen t-sized sheaves lies flatter thanconventional double blocks, and minimizes the risk of ropes tangling. Working sails and moving cargo were typicaluses for long tackle blocks. Kevels arelarge stationary cleats located along aship's rails or around the mainmast tosecure or tie off large-gauge ropes.
18
Two-sheaved mast truck
Part ora mast truck, badly burned Cheek block
Running Blocks
Keoel block, 59.9 cm long
Long tackle block, sometimescalled a fiddle block, set up as apulley
19
On ships, cleats are used mainly asbelaying points to tie off ropes, or asfairleads to keep ropes from tanglingand on their proper courses. However,the triangular stop cleat was probablyone of several nailed around a mast orbowsprit to hold wrapped rope in place.The four deck cleats were probablybolted to the deck as fairleads, although
Cleats
the metal deck cleat could have beenused instead for tying off ropes. Thehollow base of the one-piece shroudcleat fitted over a shroud and waslashed to it, providing a belaying pointfor the lines working the sails. Therange cleat could be fixed horizontallyor vertically to a mast, deck, or yard as abelaying point.
1\1etal deck cleat
Three wooden deck cleats
20
An 18th-century navigator plottinga course across open seas without landmarks for reference points relied on avariety of instruments and charts. However, navigation was not a precise science in 1760. The navigator determined latitude by measuring the anglebetween the horizon and a particularpoint in the heavens and then converting that reading into degrees of latitude. From such bearings and careful
Navigating
records of direction and speed he calculated - as accurately as his equipmentand clear skies permitted - the ship'sposition and the distance it had travelled. Navigational instruments recovered from the Machault were part ofa back staff (for taking an indirect reading of the angle between the horizonand the sun), a pair of draughting dividers, what may be a compass box, aslate pencil, and a slate tablet fragment.
A turned wooden circular box,possibly a compass box, missing itsscrew-on lid
A pair of cast-brass divider arms;their steel pointers have rustedaway
22
Sailmakers' Tools. Pumps
A wooden ship under sail neededconstant repair and maintenance tokeep it seaworthy. Sailmakers, caulkers,and carpenters were responsible for inspecting and restoring the sails and rigging, and the ship's hull and otherwooden components, including itswooden provision casks. A sailmakermight have used these awl-like tools,now missing their points, to pierceholes around a sail so he could stitch areinforcing cord to the sail's edges. Hewore the flat brass disc, attached by itsthree ears to a strip of leather aroundhis hand, as a thimble for pushing largeneedles through heavy fabric.
The main pumps on a woodenfrigate were stationary features locatedbeside the mainmast, extending the full
height of the hull, and giving onto adeck where the water could escape intothe sea. Wooden ships could not stayafloat without being pumped out several times a day. Water constantlyleaked in through the hull even in fairweather, and in heavy seas, waves breaking over the decks would keep the holdawash.
The Machault originally had fourpumps around its mainmast, but onlythree complete main pumps werefound, as well as numerous extra footvalves and plungers to replace wornout parts. The pumps operated on asuction system, raising water out of thehold in two stages; such pumps were invery common use at that period in shipsand water wells.
Sailmakers palm
Wooden awl handles: one octagonal-sided, the other "E nglishstyle"
Wooden piston with its leathergasket
23
Large gaps left between a woodenship's planking allowed for swelling asthe wood slowly soaked up sea water.These spaces were filled with a soft,sticky caulking material (animal hair orvegetable fibres mixed with pitch),
Wooden caulking mallet
Caulking
driven deeply into the seam by a sharpcaulking iron hit with a mallet; a singleor multiple-crease caulking iron compacted the material and gave a finishededge to the outer face of the seam.
Caulking irons
These hardwood caulking-malletheads were reinforced by metalbands at their ends and by metalbolts on both sides of each handle
24
Keeping the ship clean and readyfor action required frequent sweeping,washing, and scrubbing. Paintingwood, metal, and leather with a pre-
Cleaningserving fluid, such as blacking, helpedto keep materials exposed to the elements from deteriorating.
Staved wooden bucket. (After.Jean Boudriot, Le vaisseau de74 canons [Grenoble: Editionsdes Quatre Seigneurs, 1974-77],Vol. 2, n. 33.)
The head of a hair-bristle blacking brush with a woven cord tie
Myrtle broom bound with splitwillow
25
Food, ammunition, pitch and nailswere found on the Machault in oak barrels of different sizes. A cask that onceheld musket shot has been drawn toshow its staved construction, with twosets of seven willow-bound woodenhoops fixed to the barrel with iron nails.When the tiny keg shown in pieces herewas full of small lead shot, one manwould not have been able to carry it.
Another container type, a rectangular crate, was massive, judging bythe size of the remaining piece, eitherits top or its bottom. The crate had beennailed shut and further secured withtwo iron straps.
Shipping Containers
Some types of merchandise werenot shipped in wooden containers, butwere wrapped as bales, soft packagesbound with cord or metal hoops. Thelead baling seal was folded over a binding, and its edges then crimped together. Its presence on a bale guaranteed that the package had not beentampered with. This seal has been impressed with the name of the companyJoseph Rouffio Freres. The Huguenotmerchant family who guaranteed thepackage was based in Montauban, insouthwestern France, and had a working branch of their family in Canadaduring the French regime.
f'tl"ll"11I1.,,'111))
Reconstructed musketshot cask
Keg that once contained smallshot, about 29 cm high
28
Shipping Containers
Detail from Le port de Bordeaux. (Courtesy of Stephen R.Davis.)
One-piece oak crate lid, 130.6 cmby 53.5 cm by 2.2 cm
Lead baling seal consisting oftwodiscs [oined by a narrow leadstrip, disc diameters 2.5 cm
29
Not reliable for the exacting measurements required for coins or rawdrugs, these weights were most likelyused to determine bulk measurementsof provisions or trade goods. Size mark-
Commerce and Trade
ings are impressed on their tops, andimpressed on their bases are what maybe trade control marks for the harboursin which these weights were consideredlegal.
Encyclopedic ... Recueil deplanches.... Sect. 2, Pt. 1, "Balancier," PI. 1.
.-.- A selection ofsolid cast-lead merchant or common weights measuring between two onces and tenlivres
30
Made of very thin, sheet-copper alloy, this jetton was one of a set of counters that would have been used on acounting board for doing simple talliesor such complex calculations as con-
Jetton, circa 2 cm in diameter;stamped on one side with the mature bust of Louis xv oj Franceand N aoarre. The other side bearsa heraldic lion, the makers initials, .lJD, and the words RECHE PFENNIG, signifying thatthe piece is not a coin.
Commerce and Trade
verting foreign currency. It was madefor the French market probably byJohann Jacob Dietzel, a prominentNuremburg medallist.
31
Ships crossing the Atlantic carriedlarge mounted guns for protectingtheir cargos and for signalling whenvisibility was poor. When the Machaultwas built it was pierced for 26 guns, butmay have been carrying as many as 32guns when it set sail for Canada in 1760.Three 12-livre cast-iron cannons excavated from the ship measure approximately three metres in length andweigh about 1364 kilograms each. In abattle at sea, cannons were used forbombarding enemy ships' hulls withsolid iron cannonballs, or for firinganti-personnel projectiles or those de-
Ordnance
s~gn~d to destroy enemy ships' sails andnggmg.
All of the Machault's cannons wouldhave been mounted at gun positions onwooden carriages of the type shownhere. Iron rings and hooks, runningblocks, and rope cables were necessaryto minimize the recoil caused by firingthe guns. Two cannon carriage partswere recovered from the Machault: oneof the iron capsquares that fit over acannon's trunnions to secure it to itscarriage, and an iron reinforcing bandfor a carriage truck, or wheel.
Ship'S cannon and carriage.(After Jean B oudriot, Levaisseau de 74 canons [Grenohie: Editions des Quatre Seigneurs, 1974-77), Vol. 2, PI.39.)
34
Ship's ordnance on the Machault included swivel guns set in the forecastlerailings on yoke-like swivels. Swivelguns look like miniature cannons. Theycould be swung about to fire small ironor lead balls on enemies attempting toboard the ship or even on those whohad gained the decks. Both of the identical cast-iron swivel guns recoveredfrom the ship are 92 centimetres long.
Swivel f:.,run and portable stand.(After Jean Boudriot, Levaisseau de 74 canons [Grenoble: Editions des Quatre Seigneurs, 1974-77}, Vol. 2, Fig.203.)
Swivel gun from the Machault
Ordnance
A swivel gun could be mounted ona stand so that gun and stand were portable and could be installed at differentlocations around a ship, includingfighting platforms partway up themasts. The drawing shows a swivel gunmounted on a portable stand.
\~
35
Each of Machault's cannons wasmaintained, loaded, and fired by itsown crew of men. Cannons, like muskets and other smooth-bore guns of theday, were loaded from the muzzle. Ameasured amount of black powder wasfed into the cannon barrel either with ascoop or in a canvas bag and rammedinto place in the breech. Wadding wasrammed on top of the powder, followedby the projectile. If a cannonball wasused, more wadding kept it from rolling out of the barrel. Priming powder
Loading the Cannonspoured into the cannon's touchholeand into an open channel on the back ofthe cannon guided the flame into thetouchhole to set off the main powdercharge in the breech.
Extremely unreliable, blackpowder had to be stored and handledwith materials that would not easilyspark. Powder magazines were usuallyreinforced, and scoops, ramrods, andpowder barrels were made of wood andcopper because iron was liable to sparkand set the powder off accidently.
Canvas bag
36
Wood and copper powder ladle
Pouched powder bucket, leatherand wood with copper nails.(After Jean B oudriot, Levaisseau de 74 canons [Grenoble: Editions des Quatre Seigneurs, 1974-77J, Vol. 2, Fig.203.)
At sea, solid cast-iron cannonballswere used chiefly to blast holes in thehulls of enemy ships. Sometimes theywere heated red-hot in the hope thatthey would set fire to wooden decks orblow up powder magazines. More than500 cannonballs were recovered fromthe Machault. Most are French, and several are marked with fleur-de-lys; twocannonballs bear broad arrows, indicating British government ownership, andmay have struck the M achault before it
Ammunitionsank. Another type of round-shot ammunition from the Machault is small,solid iron or lead balls. When groups ofthese balls were packed together in canvas bags or tin cannisters and firedfrom a cannon, they fell on the enemyin a deadly shower.
The hand grenade is a hollow ironball filled with gunpowder, and ignitedby a wooden fuse. Grenades could betossed from the decks, rigging, or platforms partway up the masts.
Iron hand grenade with a woodenfuse
French 12-1ivre cannonball English 12 -pound cannonball
37
These strangely shaped iron projectiles were designed to be fired fromcannons and bring down the riggingand sails of enemy ships. Bar shot is asolid iron bar with solid cylindricalends, loaded and fired as cannonballswere. Star and link shot were bound
Ammunition
with twine and packed in canvas bagsthat burned away when the cannon wasfired, freeing the heavy pieces to openand rotate in flight. Spinning metalslashed through a ship's rigging, breaking spars, ripping sails, and tearingropes from their fastenings.
Bar shot
Link shot Star shot
38
Hollow cast-iron mortar bombswere filled with gunpowder that exploded when ignited by a wooden fuse.The bombs were fired on high trajectories from short, large-bore weaponsknown as mortars. A three-masted ves-
Mortar bomb
Ammunition
sellike the Machault could not fire mortars, and thus the 58 bombs recoveredfrom the ship had to be part of themunitions shipment bound forCanada.
Elevation of a Light 6 pr. [andMortar] .... , c.w. Rudverd.(Courtesy of the Army Museum,lIalifax Citadel.)
39
In addition to large mounted guns,ships carried arsenals of hand-held orportable weapons for sailors to usewhen capturing another vessel or whentheir own vessel was attacked. Firearmsin the Machaults arsenal include two varieties of muskets, a blunderbuss (notshown), and the first standard pistolsused by the French cavalry and obviously used on French ships as well:two examples have LE MACHAULTengraved in their stocks.
Edged weapons were also an important part of the arsenal - swordsfor hand-to-hand combat and axes for
Ship's Arsenal
tearing down rigging and smashingholes in planking when sailors stormedanother ship. The arsenal sword here,one of several similar weapons foundon the ship, has an octagonal bone gripand a cast-brass knuckle guard withwreathed-head decoration, and oncehad a sabre blade. Except for the ironblade, the sturdy sword was made innon-corrosive materials well-suited formarine use. It was probably carriedthrust through a sailor's sash or beltsince its scabbard has no fittings to attach it to his belt. The boarding axe ismade of wrought iron.
French small arms from the Machaults arsenal (top to bottom):musket, model 1733-34 cavalrypistol, boarding axe, and boarding sabre
40
Several exam ples of this type ofsmooth-bore musket found on the Machault belonged to the arsenal: the onlysurviving butt stock is incised with theship's name. It was originally about 149centimetres long and of the same 69calibre as French military muskets ofthe day although it was not a militarymodel. A leather strap on the gun per-
Inset area/or the lock
Brass side plate
• I Dr7]1
Brass trigger guard
Brass ramrod tailpipe
Ship's Arsenal
mitted a sailor to sling it over his shoulder and use both hands when climbinginto firing position on a mast. Thisgun's furniture - its brass fittings have survived underwater rather well,but the iron gun barrel, which wouldhave sat in a channel on the top of thewalnut stock, and the iron flintlockmechanism have rusted away.
Arsenal musket
41
The Long Land Pattern musket,known familiarly as the "Brown Bess,"was the standard British infantry firearm of the 18th century. This viewshows the wooden butt stock fitted withits cast-brass butt plate, wrist escutcheon, and trigger guard. Markingson the wrist escutcheon tell us that this
Wrist escutcheon
British Long Land Patternmusket
Ship's Arsenal
particular weapon originally belongedto Colonel William Shirleys 50th Regiment of Foot. The musket may havebeen taken when the American colonialregiment was defeated at Fort Oswegoon the south shore of Lake Ontario in1756, and then re-issued by the Frenchfor use on board the Machault.
42
The a la mousquetaire sword wasstandard issue for various branches ofthe French military from the late 17ththrough the mid-18th century, although by that time the sword was notthe soldier's primary fighting weapon.Both the knuckle guard and pommelare made of cast brass, and the grip is a
Soldier's Sword
wooden core wrapped with twistedbrass wire. The missing blade wouldhave been made of steel. Not as durableas the arsenal sabre, the few a la mousquetaire swords found on the ship hadprobably been discarded by the troopsbeing transported to Canada.
\ \
H ill of a French militmy sword,the a la mousquetaire type
43
Tools and Equipment
Encyclopedic ... Recueil deplanches.... , Sect. 2, Pt. 1,"Charpenterie, " n. 1.
45
Woodworking tools recoveredfrom the Machault ranged from splitting wedges, axes, and saws for roughwoodworking through shaping toolssuch as carpenter's drawknives, turningchisels, drills, and hammers to planesfor finishing work and a ruler/bevel formeasunng.
Woodworking
Top ofa forged-iron cooper'sadzewith a secondary working face
Forged iron or steel saw set, without its handle, usedfor setting theangles of saw blade teeth
Forged strap-iron single-bittedaxe head with a broken woodenhandle
Carved one-piece wooden mallet
46
Two centuries in the Restigoucheestuary have decomposed most of theiron parts of woodworking tools, but avariety of wooden handles has survivedin good condition. A good range ofwood-shaping tools is represented:drawknives, turning chisels, augers,and gimlets, and a selection of unidenti-
Woodworkingfied pushing or pulling tools. Additionally, wooden handles from hammers, an iron auger bit, an iron gougeblade, some fragmentary iron mawlswith wooden handles, and some unidentified tool blades were recoveredfrom the Machault.
Wooden handle grip and handleplate from single-handed saws
Wood and copper-alloy carpenter's ruler/bevel marked in 1/4pouce, 1/2 pouce, pouce, andpied
Wooden handles from shapingtools
Encyclopedic ... Recueil deplanches .... , Sect. 3, "Ebenisterie .... ," PI. 1.
47
In smoothing a rough board, a carpenter might start with ajack plane. Heused compass planes for smoothingconcave surfaces; this one may havebeen used for both general carpentryand for coopering. With the mouldingplane he could make quarter-round or
Woodworkingquarter-oval grooves. With the tongueplane and a matching groove plane hecould make joints that held one boardflush with another. Unnailed, ungluedtongue-and-groove joints allow wood toexpand and contract without splitting.
Clockioisejrom upper lelt: ajackplane, a tongue plane, a moulding plane, a compass plane, anda lunidledjack plane
Encyclopedic ... Recueil deplanches ...., Sect. 6, "Menuisieren Batimens," PI. 2.
48
Strap iron and bars of wroughtiron found in quantity on the Machaultmay have been part of the ship's stores,but were more likely intended for thecolony. A blacksmith cannot operatewithout a good stock of refined iron,and the St Maurice foundry near TroisRivieres produced less iron than thecolony needed. Refining of all types ofbase metals - copper and its alloys, all
Metalworkingthe grey metals, and iron - was practically non-existent in North Americaduring the 18th century, the coloniesrelying on imported European metals.Plates, cooking pots, utensils, candleholders, strapping, tools, and othermetal objects, even toys, were recycledwhen they broke or wore out. As a result, such objects are not often recovered in land excavations.
The kniFe grinder, Les Cris deParis. (Fortress of LouisbourgNational Historic Park, ParksCanada.)
This sandstone disc, with aslightly convex grinding surface,is a sharpening stone pre-form. Itwould have been finished by itsoumer to fit the type of trough. inwhich he wanted to mount it.
49
Wrought-iron or steel leg vice; itsbench bridles, spring, and.ioo: aremissing
All these metalworking tools wereused to hold and manipulate hot metal,and except for the vice that wasmounted against a bench, all were heldin the hand. On board the Machault asailor with some blacksmithing skillswould have been responsible for emergency repairs to the ship's metal fittings,firearms and heavy ordnance. He couldalso have repaired objects like the brasscandleholder found on the ship.
Chisel made of iron
Metalworking
50
Iron tongs, badly corroded
SelFhandled punch for makingsquare holes
FishingThis is the most complete of four
spearheads recovered from the Muchault. It once had a long handle andwas used like a harpoon to take smallwhales, dolphins, eels, and large fish. Along coil of rope attached to its handlecould be played out or pulled in to retrieve both harpoon and catch.
Fishing with nets required leadweights to sink the net, and floats, possibly cork, small watertight casks, or animal bladders, to hold up its edges. Awoven rope bag filled with corks wasfound on the ship and may have beenused as a float.
Lead net weight, 12.3 cm long
Seven-pronged iron spearhead
52
Bricks recovered from the Muchault, several still mortared together,were likely from a box-like galley structure located in the bow just aft of theforemast. In most galleys of the period,a large cauldron set over a firebox wasan integral part of the ship's structure.Some billets of wood found on the shipmay have been fuel for the galley.
Cooking pots made of coarseearthenware were common place in the18th century. There were several dozenin the Machaults cargo. Coarse earthenware pots did not leak, conducted heatwell, and were cheap. However, the potsbecame brittle with use and easily broken, and fragments are often found onFrench colonial sites dating from the
Cookingfirst half of the 17th century throughthe 18th century.
Round-bottomed cooking pots canbe set on iron tripods in the coals offireplaces or placed directly intostovetop openings to stew or fricasseesalted meats - beef or pork, usually with vegetables. They were designed tobe covered, but we did not find anycorresponding lids. This style is onlyone of several shapes of earthenwarecooking pots that French colonial consumers could buy in the 18th century.At least two other types were recoveredfrom the Mtichault: a green-glazedcooking pot with three legs, and a single-handled round-bottomed undecorated pot.
Large and small two-handledcooking pots in undecorated,partly glazed coarse earthenware,made in France
56
Sheet-metal cooking pots werelightweight, durable, and efficient,which made them highly desirable eventhough they were considerably moreexpensive than ceramic cooking vessels.They were very popular trade itemswith the North American Indians andhave been found on Indian burial sites.The pots from the Machault are of twotypes: large and small brass pots in sizesthat stack into each other, and largecopper pots with heavy covers tinnedon the inside. On both types bail handles permitted them to be suspendedover a fire.
One ofthe large brass nestingpots
CookingCooking utensils such as these
were typical of the equipment in 18thcentury galleys. A cook would strainfoods with the colander, use the skewerto hold meat together while it cooked,and remove fats congealing on soupsand stews with the skimmer. Theseutensils have not changed much even tothe present day although modern onesare more likely to be aluminum or stainless steel, metals unknown in the 18thcentury.
Sheet-brass colander
~--_.--Forged copper skimmer andforged iron skewer
57
Storing and Serving LiquidsFrench-made green-glazed coarse
earthenware jugs were probably amongthe cheapest ceramic storage and serving vessels available to 18th-centuryFrench colonials. The group of fiveshows the form's typical mid-centuryprofile and a selection of the sizes inwhich they were made. While theyprobably had many uses, the largestmight have served as pails to carry liquids to and from laundries, dairies,bedrooms, or elsewhere in homes. Thesmallest are about the size of small
mugs, and the middle sizes are veryclose to the standard beer and winemeasures used in taverns in NewFrance for serving the popular alcoholic beverages of the time: wine, beer,and rum.
More elegant than the coarseearthenware jugs is a tin-glazed earthenware pitcher, possibly used aboardthe Machault. Its monochrome yelloworange decoration is quite exceptionalon tin-glazed earthenwares from NorthAmerican sites.
Green-glazed coarse earthenwarepitchers made in Saintonge
58
Storing and Serving LiquidsThe two English bottles may have
been part of the officers' mess suppliesor of a venture cargo. Dark green glass"wine" bottles were commonly used inEurope and North America by wine,spirits, and mineral-water merchants ascommercial containers, and by privateindividuals as containers for decanting,storing, and serving beverages boughtin barrels or made at home. The darkgreen colour was popularly thought to
protect the contents from harmfuleffects of light. A few examples of theFrench version of the dark green glass"wine" bottle were also found.
Two bidons from the Machault wereserving vessels for the sailors. Bidonshave capacities of about five litres eachand were used to deliver daily wine rations to mess crews of between four andseven men.
Staved wooden biclon with ropehandles. (After)ean B oudriot,Le vaisseau de 74 canons [Grenoble: Editions des Quatre Seigneurs, 1974-77], Vol. 2, Fig.154.)
English dark green glass "wine"bottles
French-made tin-glazed earthenware pitcher, 23 cm tall, possiblymade in M ontauban
59
Storing Foods and BeveragesUnglazed coarse earthenware stor
age jars in many sizes have been widelymanufactured for centuries in Mediterranean countries. This one could havebeen used as an alternative to a woodenkeg of comparable size for storing andtransporting all sorts of foods and liquids. Its opening is large enough for aperson to scoop out its contents by handor with a cup, but at only 49 centimetrestall, it is probably smaller than jars usedon 18th-century ships to hold suppliesof drinking water.
The corked bottle neck is from oneof almost 200 English "wine" bottles
that appear to have been filled andsealed in England. The cork stopperswells slightly over the bottle lip and hasbeen secured with a strand of copperalloy wire.
Several French-made glass bottlesand jars suitable for foods, beverages,and a variety of other products werealso found on the Machault. An oak barrel recovered intact still contained saltpork; traces of a knife in the pork suggest that the barrel had been opened.Barrels that contained liquids were tapped or drained with spigots.
Neck of a dark greenglass "wine"bottle
Cast copper alloy spigotCoarse earthenware jar
60
Cups and Drinking GlassesOnly the stemmed glasses and the
pewter beaker are drinking vessels; loving cups were used mainly as ornaments, sometimes inscribed to commemorate happy events. Although theNottingham stoneware it is made of isappropriate for the period of the Machault, loving cups are not commonlyfound on 18th-century North American sites.
Eighteenth-century pewterbeakers ar~ also rare today. althoughsome su rvive as com mu n ron cups.Metal beakers, cups without handles,are a very ancient form of drinking vessel. This example's plain, simple linesare pleasing, and when the cup was new,
Footedbeaker madeofcast pewter
English brown salt-glazed stoneware loving cup with inciseddecoration
its surface would have had a polished,silvery sheen.
The hollow-stemmed Continentalbouton carre wineglass on the left is oneof several hundred from the Machault,obviously cargo items. The other wineglass, an English lead-glass piece with along stem and graceful, flaring bowl,was a British style in great demand onboth sides of the Atlantic during theSeven Years' War.
Not illustrated are an Englishmade opaque-twist stemware glass anda Continental crizzled-glass tumbler ofa type very commonly found on Canadian sites from the French period.
Two stemware drinking glasses
61
Decorated Coarse Earthenware
Utilitarian coarse earthenware vessels are often plain, but the Machaultcargo also contained a variety of decorated pieces that were probably intended for serving food as well as forpreparing it. These examples havezigzags, circles, dots, and stylized animals and plants - all popular elements- painted on white slip backgrounds.
Similar embellishments appear oncoarse earthenware bowls and platesalike in the Machault collection. Othercoarse earthenware vessels also featureincised decoration. Almost 500 decorated French coarse earthenware bowlsand plates were found on the Machault,many still stacked in piles in the hold.
62
BowlsSmall bowls with brims and por
ringers with lugs, or handles, were commonly used individual eating vessels forthe broths and gruels that made up agood part of everyday diet; bowls without brims could be used for mixing orservmg.
The Machault« cargo included several types of bowls; other types of bowlswere probably used on the ship. Theselection is amazingly varied: Continental, French, English, and Chinese,some very sturdy and practical, othersmore decorative and refined.
Five sizes of tin-glazed earthenware bowls suggest various uses: the
smallest as handleless drinking cups;mid-range sizes as individual eatingbowls or slop bowls on tea tables; andthe largest as tureens or punch bowls.The woodengamelle, on the other hand,had a specialized use on the ship as acommunal mess tub from which four toseven men would have served themselves.
Also found on the site but notshown here are a cargo of English softpaste porcelain bowls, a coarse earthenware porringer with moulded lugs, anda small dark blue glass bowl with gildedlines encircling its flaring rim.
Cast-pewter porringer with twohandles
Small English mixing bowl ofplain white salt-glazed stoneware
St aue d wooden mess tub, orgamelle. (After Jean Boudriot,Le vaisseau de 74 canons [Greliable: Editions des Quatre Seigneurs, 1974-77], Vol. 2, Fig.154.)
64
Chinese export porcelain bowl,suitable/or punches, with raised,moulded plum blossoms alternating with cartouches of paintedfloral sprays in the famille rosepalette
Bowls
Plain French green-glazed coarseearthenware eating bowl
Four of thefive sizes oftin- glazedearthenware bowls made in England in a Chinese shape anddecorated with a blue and reddragon pattern
65
66
Bowls
Chinese export porcelain bowlswit h b I u e - p a i n t e d flo r a Ilandscapes
Chinese export porcelain bowl,possibly for salads, with alternating blue-painted floral bouquetsand clumps of lettuce
These items could be used as individual eating dishes or as servingpieces. Most are good quality tablewares although rather subdued for therococo period. A dot-pattern Saintongeplate from southwestern France, sherds
Plates and Platters
of a manganese-brown-glazed Ligurianpiece from northwestern Italy, a cargoof lower quality coarse earthenwareplates, and some fragments of woodenplates were also recovered from theMachault.
Chinese export porcelain dinnerplate in famille rose colours,circa 1755-58
Chinese export porcelain soupplate with a blue landscape andborder Fragment from a French faience
oval platter with a blue lambrequin border
Pewter dinner plate
Frenchfaience plate with a monochrome blue border and centremotif
67
The European fashion for takingtea was gradually spreading to all socialclasses during the second half of the18th century, and tea drinkers aspiredto having their tables graced with porcelain and silver. However, tea was still acostly item, kept under lock and key,and made and served in small vessels. Abasic tea service of the period requireda teapot, a hot water or milk pitcher, asugar bowl, a slop bowl, tea bowls, andsaucers. Slop bowls received the colddregs of tea from cups and teapots, andthe water used to rinse them. It wascustomary for guests to place their cupsupside down in the saucers with theteaspoons balanced across the bases tosignal that they had had enough tea.
Although matching tea serviceswere available in the middle of the 18thcentury, the Machault's cargo of blue-
Two coffee or chocolate cups andsaucers, one set with blue-painteddecoration and the other set with abrown glaze (Batavian) decoration and famille rose reserves
Drinking Teapainted Chinese export porcelainshows that buyers sometimes wouldhave had to make up services from individual items with different patterns.
The cargo also included Englishsoft-paste porcelain teawares made atthe Bow factory. Unfortunately, theywere badly damaged and could not bephotographed. Also present were asmall n umber of exquisitely delicateChinese eggshell porcelain tea bowlsand saucers, some painted with farnillerose colours, some with gold.
Coffee and hot chocolate weredrunk from handled cups, larger andmore cylindrical than tea bowls, andwith larger saucers too. The Chineseexport porcelain coffee cups andsaucers shown here differ from eachother only in their painted decorations.
68
Chinese eggshell-porcelain teabowland saucer with painted decoration
Drinking Tea
Hlue-painted Chinese porcelainteaioarcs and a cost-peuiterspoonwith a rococo pottern
69
Chinese export porcelains in theMachault collection are decorated withunderglaze blue and overglaze Irnaristyle and famille rose colours. Decorations in all three colour palettes reflectthe French partiality at the time forfloral and landscape themes; only onescene includes human figures. Chineseporcelain factories operated on an as-
Blue-painted floral decorationwith a pendant border
Painted Porcelain
sembly-line system in which severalhands painted different elements of thesame pattern, which accounts for thevariations in colour and in pattern details in the grape-and-trellis bowls.Overglaze decorations were more carefully executed than underglaze decorations, and hence overglaze-decoratedporcelains were more expensive.
Detail from a large bowl with afloral landscape in the Imari style
70
Painted Porcelain
Detail of a figure [rom a bluepainted garden
Bowls with blue grape-and-trellispatterns
Blue-painted landscape on ahuge Chinese porcelain bowl
71
Painted Porcelain
Decoration in famille rose colours on a fluted bowl
Landscape in the famille rosepalette
Floral pattern in the famillerose palette
Floral landscape in the famillerose palette
72
When English potters began tomake porcelains in the mid-18th century, they often decorated them withpatterns copied from Chinese prototypes, patterns like the blue-painteddragons found on two sizes of smallbowls made at the Bow factory in about1755. The dragon motif was also reproduced on English tin-glazed earthenware bowls found on the Machault.
Blue-painted dragon pattern onEnglish porcelain. (Private collection.)
Painted PorcelainThe English also copied Conti
nental European porcelain patterns.The Immortelle pattern on teapots inthe Machault's cargo was produced atthe Bow factory between 1755 and1759; two versions of this long-livedpattern are still produced today by theRoyal Copenhagen porcelain factory ofDenmark.
One ofseveral Bow porcelain teapots with Immortelle patterns
73
Clothing
Venison & Claret. or SI'Humpv Haunch Bar: of Glutton Hall ... 1772. (Courtesy ofthe Colonial Williarnsburg Foundation, Williarnsburg, Virginia.)
75
Buckles were common clothingfasteners in the 18th century. Shoe,knee, and garter buckles were found onthe Mcchault, most represented bybuckle frames. The buckles once hadbackpieces that attached them to garments. Buckles usually outlived the garments they fastened, and the backpieces permitted them to be easilytransferred to other garments.
Shoe buckles were worn by bothmen and women; a variety of decorativemotifs can be seen here, although thosein the second row were probably the
Clothing Fastenersmost fashionable. In most cases onlythe shoe buckle frame has survived, buttwo are complete with the backpiecesthat attached them to the shoes.
Knee buckles, used to fasten men'sbreeches below the knee, are smallerthan shoe buckles. Smaller still is thegarter buckle used to fasten the strapthat held up a man's or woman's stocking. Its T-shaped flange hooked into abuttonhole on the garter, and a tongue,which is missing, kept the strap tight onthe leg.
Seven pewter or brass shoebuckles
Knee buckleframes, two in brass,one in pewter
76
All of these practical types ofclothing fasteners are still in use todayalthough the 18th-century exam pIeshere display decorative elements fashionable in their day. For example, thestamped sheet-brass clasp has a serrated edge and cut-out, heart-shapedcentre. Its two prongs grasped one sideof a heavy outer coat or cloak and the
French silver garter buckle,stamped with a fleur-de-lys andthe name ACHARD, 2.7 on by2.5 cm
Brass clasp
Clothing Fastenershook caught a corresponding loop onthe other side of the garment.
Sleeve links served the same purpose as modern-day cufflinks, but inthe 18th century were more likely usedonly by men of means. These examplesare made of silver, gilt brass, and facetted glass.
Wooden toggle
Brass clothing hook
Sleeve links
77
Punched leather discs, extremelysimple and crudely made, contrastsharply with decorative buttons madeby crimping the edges of stampedsheet-brass shells over plain woodenbutton moulds. Alternatively, woodenbutton moulds could be the bases of
Clothing Fastenersintricately wrapped thread buttons. Afourth variety of button shown here ismade of brass or pewter, cast in twopieces, and soldered together. These 13buttons are fairly typical of the varietyavailable at the period to fasten men's,rather than women's, clothing.
Thread-covered wooden buttonmould
Encyclopedic ... Recueil deplanches ... , Sect. 8, "Tailleur... ," Pl. 1.
78
Almost 500 unworn, virtually identical men's shoes were part of the Machault's cargo. They may have beenintended for military use, but similarshoes were the everyday footwear ofmost of the civilian population as well.Fashioned to be closed with buckles,they are well-made, sturdy shoes, handstitched with welted soles, their leatherheels attached with wooden pegs. Inwelted construction the shoe's upper issewn to a narrow leather welt and thewelt is then stitched to an outer sole.This makes a neat, sturdy attachment,common on 18th-century footwear andstill used on better quality shoes today.
Footwear
These shoes were made to be worn oneither foot, and the owner could switchhis left and right shoes to make the pairlast longer.
Another way to prolong a shoe'slife was to nail a metal plate to its heel.This heel plate, decorated with a cutout heart, was probably from a highheeled gentleman's or lady's shoe.
Examples of men's turnshoes werealso found. Turnshoe pieces are sewntogether without a welt to produce alightweight shoe worn mainly indoorsfor dancing, fencing, and other leisureactivities.
Shoe quarter and brass buckle
Brass heel plate
Welted cargo shoe
80
Footwear
Leather components of a weltedshoe: (top row) two shoe quarters,toe and heel reinforcements; (bottom row) the vamp, an inner sole,an outer sole with attached heel,the welt
81
Its characteristic warmth andwater resistance have traditionallymade wool popular for both woven andknitted clothing. Many fragments ofhand-knit woollens were found on theMachault; however, only four could beidentified. These three have all beenknit in stocking stitch using two-plyyarn on four needles, and all have beendarned rather crudely, possibly by themen who owned them. Although theyare not a pair, both stockings were made
Wool tuque
Knitted Clothingto reach almost to the wearers' kneesand both have double bands of garterstitch at their tops.
The tuque, knit in a long, seamlesstube closed at both ends, was foldedback on itself for a double layer ofwarmth on the wearer's head. By increasing the number of stitches in themiddle of the tube, the knitter createdear pockets in the finished hat. Alsorecovered was a hand-knit mitten.
Wool stockings
82
Textiles recovered from the Machault represent a variety of woven fabrics available during the 18th century,but these three alone are completeenough to reveal their original shapes.Wool, silk, cotton, and linen have losttheir colours, and all look variousshades of mottled brown. The silk ribbon had been wound and secured witha brass pin. The twill tape was wound
Woven Clotharound a flat wooden card and heldwith a brass pin similar to the one thatsecured the ribbon. The bow, a foldedsilk ribbon tied in the centre with asmaller piece of silk, might haveadorned a man's three-cornered hat.Other textiles from the Machault are asvaried as coarsely woven burlap andfancy silk dress fabric.
Seventeen metres o{ silk ribbon
Silk ribbon bow
Roll of twill-woven wool and cotton tape
83
Miscellany
The pin seller, Les Cris de Paris.(Fortress of Louisbourg NationalHistoric Park, Parks Canada.)
85
Grooming and HealthFashionable ladies and gentlemen
had worn wigs since the early 17th century, but at this period the hairdos wereparticularly elaborate. Abundant curlsand ringlets on wigs were made withheated iron tongs and held in place withcombs. These bone and horn combswere treated to resemble tortoiseshell, amore expensive material than bone orhorn.
Horn and bone hair combs
Encyclopedie ... Recueil deplanches .... , Sect. 7, "Perruquier...," PI. 1.
Wrought-iron curling tongs
86
This very small collection hints atsome of the complexities of keepingclean and healthy in the 18th century.The mortar and pestle might have beenused to pulverize ingredients for ointments, powders, and syrups. Severalfragments of glass vials in which medicines were dispensed were also found.The syringe was used for irrigating apatient's bladder, part of the treatment
Bronze mortar and pestle
Grooming and Healththen for such illnesses as venereal diseases.
Few personal grooming items werefound on the Machault: fine-tootheddouble-edged combs useful for removing lice from human hair; a barber'sbasin with a wide brim and a semi-circular opening that tucked under theshaver's chin; and several boxwoodsprinklers, probably stoppers for bottles of cologne or other toilet requisites.
Pewter ,Iyringe
87
Boxwood comb
Encyclopedic '" Recueil depla nches.v., Sect, 7, "Perruquier, Barbier...," rt. 1,
Green-glazed coarse earthenwarebarber's basin of Frenchmanufacture
Grooming and Health
Wooden sprinklers or squirt tops
88
Gaming, Drinking and SmokingThe wooden disc is a counter or
marker that could have been used in anumber of different games. Sailorswere as notorious for gambling duringlong sea voyages as they were for gambling during brief furloughs ashore.
A glass pocket flask for carrying asmall supply of liquor is not illustrated.Similar small bottles are found on otherFrench colonial sites in North America.
Small metal tobacco boxes werepopular in the 18th century when
smoking had become a common habit.Many tobacco boxes originated in theNetherlands, as this one did. It is covered with engravings and biblical texts(Luke 2: 44-46 and Luke 7: 2-4) inDutch; the top depicts Christ in thetemple and the bottom, a supplicantapproaching Jesus. On the sides of thebox someone has added a cryptic message loosely translated as "I will holdfast to my resolution to stop indulgingin sweets, if not today, tomorrow."
Wooden gaming piece
Engraved brass and copper tobacco box
89
In North America and northernEurope, people commonly smokedtheir tobacco in pipes, following thepractice of native North Americans.Two types of moulded, unglazed claysmoking pipes are shown here, bothvery typical of the late 18th century.
Long, thin-stemmed one-piecepipes with upright cylindrical bowls arevery often found on our sites. Tippetpipes from the Machault confirm howeasily one-piece pipes were broken: theillustrated example, missing a largeportion of its stem, is nevertheless themost complete of a cargo of pipes.
One piecefrom a cargo of tobaccopipes attributed to the R. Tippetfirm of Bristol, England
Spurred I'D smoking pipe, proba-bly of British manufacture ••••
Two human-effigy componentsmoking pipes made by GottfriedA ust, a M oravian working inNorth Carolina in 1760
"Canadiens en Raquette [sic}.... "in c.c. Le Roy Bacqueville de laPotherie, Histoire de l'Arnerique septentrionale.... (Paris:1722), Vol. 1,facing p. 51. (Public Archives Canada, C-1854.)
SmokingTeeth marks on the TD pipe show thatit was used even after the stem had become so short that smoking would havebeen uncomfortably hot. Its owner mayhave thrown it away when the bowlbroke, or lost it when it fell from his hat,the safest place for an active man tocarry so fragile an item.
The effigy pipes in the lower rowsare component pipes to which a buyeradded his (or her) own reed or othertype of stem. Component pipes are notoften found on 18th-century Canadiansites although they were commonlymade in the American colonies.
90
Knives. Ring and MedallionNearly everyone in the 18th cen
tury carried his or her own personalknife for eating with although it hadany number of other general uses aswell. Wood, bone, and horn handlesfrom folding knives show the varietiesof handle styles and materials that wereavailable.
Neither the medallion nor the ringare carefully crafted or expensiveitems. The medallion is stamped with
-~.....-..~
---Wood, bone, and horn knifehandles
Christian symbols and was once attached to a chain, perhaps a rosary.
Rings like this one are thought tohave been trade goods because they aremost often found on early French contact sites. They are frequently referredto as Jesuit rings and are quite individual in their decoration: this one isengraved with a wrigglework patternand the letters FI.
Brass finger ring
Brass medallion
91
Sewing and MendingPins and thimbles are humble re
minders that clothing had to last a longtime. In 18th-century Europe pin making was a well-developed factory operation, and these pins with coiled wireheads are typical of the period.
The thimbles do not differ muchfrom those we have today. The larger
one, open at the top, is often called atailor's thimble.
The needlecase, which had a slipon top, probably held large, blunt needles called bodkins. Drawstrings andlacings so commonly used to fasten18th-century clothing were threadedthrough loops and bands with bodkins.
•
Wooden needlecase, 11.5 cm long
Brass thimbles
..--......~--~....
•
•Brass straight pins
92
Candles, the most common formof artificial lighting in the 18th century,would not burn without frequent attention: someone had to snuff the wick trim its charred end - two or threetimes an hour to keep a burning candlefrom sputtering out. Snuffers, resembling scissors with a box on one bladeand the box lid on the other, could beplain or fancy, but had to be kept closeat hand, either in an upright snufferholder like the one shown here, or onan oblong tray.
Portable brass candleholder
LightingHolders for candles were made in
many different styles and materials,and two very different types are shownhere. The elegant table candlestick, castin a style fashionable in the 1750s, wasone of a pair found on the ship. Thecandleholder with a handle and its owndrip pan was designed to be carriedwherever light was needed. The handlerivets on this example from the Machault had been hastily mended to keepit in use. Several tallow candles werealso recovered in the excavation of theship.
Cast-brass candlestick, brass candle snuffer and upright snufferholder
93
Brass and copper pot lid
Fancy brass handlefrom a tea kettle
Small brass nesting pot
Chinese export porcelain teasertnce
101
Many of the artifacts shown herecan be seen at Parks Canada's visitorreception centre at Pointe-a-la-Croix,Quebec, where the Battle of the Restigouche is being commemorated. Fur-
ther information on the objects, thesite, and the battle can be found in thefollowing sources, or by contactingParks Canada.
104
Bacqueville de la Potherie, C.C. LeRoy1722H istoire de l'A merique septentrionale ....Paris, n. p. Vo!. 1.
Barton, K.J.1977"The Western European Coarse Earthenwares from the Wreck of the Machault." Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History,No. 16, pp. 45-71. Ottawa.
Basedow, Johann B.1774Elmentarwerk. Vogel, Leipzig.
Beattie, J udith, and Bernard Pothier1977"The Battle of the Restigouche." Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers inArchaeology and History, No. 16, pp. 5-34.Ottawa.
Blanchette, Jean-Fran~ois1977"Faience and Related Tin-GlazedEarthenwares from the French FrigateMachault (1760)." Manuscript on file,National Historic Parks and SitesBranch, Parks Canada, Ottawa.
Boudriot, Jean1974-77Le vaisseau du 74 canons: traiti: pratiqued'art naval. Editions des Quatre Seigneurs, Grenoble. 4 vols. Vols. 1and 2:Construction du vaisseau.
BibliographyBradley, Charles S.1981"The Ship's Fittings, Rigging Components and Rope Recovered from theWreck of the Machault." Manuscript onfile, National Historic Parks and SitesBranch, Parks Canada, Ottawa.1983"Preliminary Analysis of the StavedContainer Remains From the Underwater Excavation of the French Privateer." Microfiche Report Series No.113, Parks Canada, Ottawa.
Bryce, Douglas1984Weaponry from the Machault, an l Sth-Century French Frigate. Parks Canada,Ottawa. Studies in Archaeology, Architecture and History.
Davis, Stephen R.1982"Wearing Apparel from Le Machault: ADescriptive Inventory." Microfiche Report Series No. 97, Parks Canada,Ottawa.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography1966-University of Toronto Press, Toronto.Vo!. 3: 1741 to 1770; Vo!. 4: 1771 to1800.
Encyclopedie, ou Dictionnaire raisonnedes sciences, des arts et des metiers ...Recueil de planches ....1762-72Briasson, etc., Paris. 11 vols.
105
Gusset, Gerard1983"Les poteries communes de l'epave duMochault - Inventaire et interpretation." Manuscript on file, National Historic Parks and Sites Branch, ParksCanada, Ottawa.
Lescallier, Daniel1791Traiiepratique du greement des vaisseaux etautres batiments de mer.... Clousier, Paris.
Litalien, Raymond1972"Le Machault, bateau corsaire duXVIIle." Culture Vivante, No. 24(March), pp. 11-16. Quebec.1977"Le Machault de Bayonne, Fregate Corsaire echouee au Canada en 1760." Bulletin de la Societe des Sciences, Lettreset Artsde Bayonne, No. 133, pp. 199-218. Bayonne.
McNally, Paul1977"Table Glass from the Wreck of the Machault." Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History,No. 16, pp. 35-44. Ottawa.
Myles, Virginia1980"Bricks from the Wreck of the Machault." Microfiche Report Series No.101, Parks Canada, Ottawa.
BibliographyProulx, Gilles1979"The Machauli: Some Research Notesand New Source Documents." ResearchBulletin, No. 110, Parks Canada, Ottawa.1982"Le dernier effort de la France au Canada - Secours ou fraude?" Revue d'histoire de l'Amerique[ranause, Vol. 36, No. 3(Dec.), pp. 413-26. Montreal.1985"L'expeditiori de Ristigouche." Gaspesie, Vo!. 23, No. 1 (March), pp. 16-28.Caspe.
Ritchie, Clarence F., and Charles S.Bradley1983"Clay Tobacco Pipes from the Wreck ofthe Machauli" Manuscript on file, National Historic Parks and Sites Branch,Parks Canada, Ottawa.
Ross, Lester A.1981"Eighteenth-Century French NavalDuties as Reflected by the Tools Recovered from Le Machault, a 5th-RateFrigate Sunk in Chaleur Bay, Quebec,AD 1760." Manuscript on file, NationalHistoric Parks and Sites Branch, ParksCanada, Ottawa.
Sullivan, Catherine1979"A Catalogue of the Container Glassfrom the Machauli," Microfiche ReportSeries No. 93, Parks Canada, Ottawa.
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Whate, Ron1981"A Cargo of Porcelains for Montreal,1760." Canadian Collector; Vo!. 16, No. I(Jan/Feb.), pp. 24-28. Toronto.n.d."The Chinese Export Porcelain Cargofrom the Machault," Manuscript in progress, National Historic Parks and SitesBranch, Parks Canada, Ottawa.n.d."The 1': nglish Soft -Pas te PorcelainCargo from the Muchault:" Manuscriptin progress, National Historic Parksand Sites Branch, Parks Canada,Ottawa.
BibliographyWoodhead, Eileen I.1978"Artifacts from the M achault Related toFoodways, Artificial Lighting and Personal Use or Wear: Metal and OrganicMaterials." Microfiche Report SeriesNo. 86, Parks Canada, Ottawa.
Zacharchuk, Waiter, and Peter J.A.Waddell1984The Excaoation of the Machault, an 18thCentury French Frigate. Parks Canada,Ottawa. Studies in Archaeology, Architecture and History.
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