Images(3)

Steamboat Paddlebox Lunette

Maker Unknown Maker

Period1871

MediumCarved, painted and gilded pine

Dimensions31 × 66.5 × 5 in. (78.7 × 168.9 × 12.7 cm)

ClassificationsAdvertising, Business & Ornamental Artifacts

Credit LineGift of Henry F. Gelhaus, 1955

Object number2000.617

DescriptionA robustly carved paddlebox lunette, or half-circle, of a rampant eagle, with head facing right and wings outstretched. The eagle clutches a shield painted red, white and blue in its left claw, while the right claw rests on a curving grapevine. The vine, with leaves and bunches of grapes, appears along the entire lower edge of the lunette. Six stars in graduated sizes ornament the its upper curved edge. Surface colors have dulled over the years. The eagle was originally painted white with brown feathers, a yellow beak, and red eyes with black pupils. The background was a bright blue or blue/green, with green grape leaves and vine, and purple/blue grape bunches. The stars were painted yellow. The upper section of the beak has been replaced.
Curatorial RemarksIn addition to the lunette, the Association also owns the pilot house eagle from the Keyport (accession number 1983.419), as well as a second lunette from the Point Comfort (accession number 1983.418), another vessel also owned by the Keyport Steamboat Company. The donor, Henry F. Gelhaus, was the last owner of the steamboat line. His family continues to own an amusement park in Keansburg, which was part of their extensive real estate interests in that area.NotesThe lunette originally adorned the steamboat Martha's Vineyard built in New York City in 1871 for the Nantucket & Cape Cod Steamboat Company. The vessel ran between the Vineyard and the mainland until 1886, when the company merged with the New Bedford, Vineyard & Nantucket Steamboat Company. The Martha's Vineyard was then classed as a spare boat. In 1913, the Keansburg Steamboat Company of New Jersey purchased the boat and renamed it Keyport. From that year to 1916, it ran on the Keansburg to New York City route. On 22 July 1916 the Keyport was rammed off the Battery in New York and sank in seven minutes. The vessel was raised and towed to Keyport, Monmouth County, where it sank again and was abandoned in place. The lunette and accompanying pilot house eagle were salvaged by the Gelhaus family, owners of the Keansburg Steamboat Company. A photograph of the Keyport under way shows the lunette, located at the pivot point of the paddle wheel. The magnificent piece of wood sculpture was being loaded onto a pickup truck in a second photograph taken in 1954.

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