TidesNet—Online Collections Entry Detail

DescriptionA late 19th century silver plate coffee urn that is engraved with the name “Rose Standish” on its front. The coffee urn was made for the steamship, Rose Standish, that made regularly scheduled trips in this region in the late 19th century between Calais and Eastport in Maine and St. Andrews in New Brunswick. The coffee urn stands 22 inches high and 11 inches wide. It is entirely made of silver plate with the exception of a brass spigot. There are no identifying maker’s marks on the coffee urn so it is unknown who may have made it. The Rose Standish was built in Williamsburg, New York by Lawrence and Foulks in 1863. The steamship was 154 long, 27 feet wide and 392 tons. In 1887 the steamship was sold to the Frontier Steamship Company of Calais. Thirteen years later, in 1900, the Rose Standish caught fire and sank while docked along the Calais, Maine waterfront. Nearly a century later, in the mid to late 1990s, two brothers from Calais, Darren and David Townsend, got permission from the City of Calais to explore the wreck of the Rose Standish that still lay submerged in the waters edge of the St. Croix River. Darren had a lobster boat for the salvage operation and he did the diving to the underwater Rose Standish wreck and found the still intact, though damaged, coffee urn. Several years later, Darren sold the coffee urn to a local Calais antique dealer, Kerry Pinnette. Pinnette had the coffee urn cleaned, polished and repaired by Macel Doucet of Brass ’n Things of Saint John, New Brunswick. Pinnette soon sold the restored coffee urn to another local Calais area antique dealer, Brian Smith, who contacted the Tides Institute and sold the coffee urn to the institute in 2006. Rescued from the wreck of the steamship, Rose Standish, that burned and sank in 1900 along the Calais, Maine waterfront. The Rose Standish was built in 1863. Silver-plate. 22 inches high, 11 inches wide. Reply to Facebook post in group, Old Pictures of Eastport, Maine, June 27, 2022 of photograph of steamship, Rose Standish, docked at Eastport, Maine waterfront in 1890 from Brian Smith: "Great photo, thankyou for sharing, history of the "ROSE STANDISH ",was built in Williamsburg, New York, by Lawrence &foulks in 1863,she was sold to frontier steamboat company in 1887,she was 154 feet long over all ,her beam was 27 feet, she weighed in at 392 gross tons .the ROSE STANDISH, sailed the st.cr st.croix river between Maine and New Brunswick ,from Calais to Eastport and over to st.andrews, New Brunswick and making stops to other small communities in between. She was destroyed by fire while docked at the Calais pier in 1900.,some artifacts have been recovered, one in particular, the original coffee urn that was used by the crew and passengers, is in the tides institute and museum of art,I had purchased it from Calais antiques owner, Kerry pinett [Pinnette] over a decade ago, he had purchased it from a local Calais resident and collector of marine artifacts of the local area, I decided to sell it to the tides institute and museum of art, to make sure that it forever stayed where it belonged and its history preserved for future generations of our citizens of downeast Maine and beyond, glad that an important part of our corner of downeast Maines history has gone full circle, and an historic artifact of the ROSE STANDISH is back again, to tell its memories of a time long ago in the annuals of downeast Maine." Telephone conversations with Brian Smith, July 10 and 11, 2022: Two brothers, David Townsend and Darren Townsend, of Calais, Maine were the people who recovered the coffee urn from the submerged wreck of the Rose Standish in the waters next to the Calais waterfront. This would have been in the mid to late 1990s. Darren had a lobster boat and they got permission from the City of Calais to do the salvage operation. Darren did the diving. Darren then sold the coffee urn to antique dealer, Kerry Pinnette, of Calais, Maine. Kerry had the coffee urn restored by Brass 'n Things of Saint John, New Brunswick as he knew Marcel Doucet the owner and he was having a number of things restored by Brass 'n Things at this time. Kerry only owned the coffee urn for 3-4 months and he then sold it to me (Brian Smith). Kerry must have bought the coffee urn in about 2005 as I (Brian Smith) sold the urn to the Tides Institute in 2006 after owning it for a couple months. David Townsend now works for the Calais High School as a custodian. Darren has moved to Florida. Coffee Urn was restored by Brass 'n Things of Saint John, New Brunswick: "Established in 1976, Brass "N" Things has been proudly providing antique restoration services through the Atlantic region. Locally owned and operated, we are skilled in all facets of our trade. We off our expertise for all antique lighting and repair. Door hardware, fireplace accessories. Full restoration to all Church accessories. Tabernacles, Collection Plates, Candlesticks, Chalices, etc. Dedicated to every detail in the restoration and conservation of find metalware, antiques, and collectibles. We will make your artifacts new again. We strive for outstanding customer satisfaction. We buy scrap Gold & Silver, Old Coins. Antiques bought & Sold!"