CONSERVATION RESEARCH
LABORATORY REPORTS
CONSERVATION OF CLOSED WOODEN CONTAINERS:
A CHEST FROM THE BELLE
LA SALLE SHIPWRECK PROJECT,
TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
Throughout each year, the Conservation Research Laboratory conserves
material from a number of different archaeological projects. The purpose of these
CRL reports is to showcase the conservation procedures used to treat some of
the more interesting archaeological material. The conservation of a wooden
chest found on the Belle is presented in this report. The Belle, one of the ships
of French explorer Robert Cavelier, Sieur (Lord) de La Salle, was lost in
Matagorda Bay, Texas, in 1686. It was excavated by the Texas Historical
Commission.
WHAT'S IN THE CHEST? HOW DO YOU CONSERVE IT?
WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS? HOW ARE THEY SOLVED?
During the excavation of the Belle by the Texas Historical Commission, features,
such as intact barrels, boxes of guns, and chests, were jacketed and removed
intact by the excavation crew in order to transport them to the Conservation
Research Laboratory with minimum disturbance to the contents. The chest under
discussion here is shown in situ on the ship in the photo to the right (indicated by
white arrow). It is roughly 25.5 in. long, 13 in. wide, 13.5 in. tall, and weighs in
excess of 300 lbs!!
Because of the interest created by this sealed wooden chest and its speculated
contents, it was kept stored in an aquarium so that visitors to the Conservation
Research Laboratory could view it easily and even make guesses as to what it
might contain.
On June 1, 2002, the excavation of the mystery chest recovered from La Belle
began. A webcam was installed to view the chest and the ongoing work. The
conservation work has been undertaken by Michael West, a graduate student in
the Nautical Archaeology Program at Texas A&M University. The analysis of the
contents of the chest, comparison with similar artifacts from other sites, and the
conservation of the contents of the chest will be the subject of his Master of Arts
thesis.
The opening of the chest revealed a number of wooden handles. Heavy
concretion encased all of the artifacts and had to be carefully chipped away. The
iron objects were still present but in extremely fragile condition, making the care
for their preservation a priority throughout.
The six boards of the chest were removed first and had their conservation begun
before the solid internal matrix was examined. X-rays of the wood revealed it
had been nailed and that a lock was once located on the front side. This allowed
the correct orientation to be determined, and it was found that the chest had
been recovered lying upon its front side. At this point the remaining internal
matrix was reoriented so that the examination could continue from the true top of
the chest.
The very first artifact removed posed a mystery at first until it was determined to
be a sword chape, used to protect the tip of the blade. After this, however,
continuing work revealed a number of carpentry tools: a saw, three drawknives,
three adzes, a hatchet, two gimlets, an augur, an axe, number of chisels/gouges,
and a square. Preliminary examination of the handles indicates a combination of
what were once two separate coherent sets. Also, a number of these tools were
clearly specifically for barrel-making, a specialized job performed by the cooper.
Originally tenderly dubbed as the “Mystery Chest”, further artifacts removed
allowed the chest to live successfully up to its name. Two sickles used for
agricultural clearing or harvesting were recovered, along with four drumsticks
(only two of which are mates), a pair of dividers, a sounding lead with the rope
still attached, and a large seven-pronged fishing spear.
The oddness of these items being found in one collection was compounded by
finding the majority of pieces to a small sword hilt, a well-preserved pewter fork,
and three locks (one a triangular shape and two other padlock-like ones).
Two items had different ownership initials etched into themselves, the smallest
gimlet and the pewter fork, and the fork also had a beautiful maker’s mark
consisting of a pair of clasped hands beneath a crown, with the word “FIN”
beneath and the name “M CARDIN” above.
As stated above, the iron objects were in poor condition, but the lead, pewter,
and brass items were pristine. The organics were also generally well-preserved,
not only the wooden handles but also the small amounts of rope, fur, twine, and
sailcloth that the chest contained.
As of February 2004, most of the non-iron metal objects have been conserved,
and the organics are all in dehydration, with the earliest artifacts nearing
completion. The iron objects are currently the conservation focus in order to
consolidate, mold, and cast them before they are lost.
In the not too distant future, the conservation staff will open it and begin the
conservation process. The boards of the chest will be treated first. Then we'll
conserve the contents - whatever they might be!!!
Citation Information:
Donny L. Hamilton & Michael C. West
2004, Conservation of Closed Wooden Containers -- A Chest from the Belle, Conservation
Research Laboratory Research Report #5, World Wide Web, URL,
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/crl/Report5/chest.htm, Nautical Archaeology Program, Texas A&M
University; La Salle Shipwreck Project, Texas Historical Commission, Austin, Texas.
E-mail: dlhamilton@tamu.edu
& mcw18@neo.tamu.edu
This page is maintained by the staff at the Conservation
Research Laboratory, Nautical Archaeology Program, Texas
A&M University (crl@tamu.edu).
Updated: February 2004
The contents of this site - text, images, and data - are intended
for personal information only. Downloading of information or
graphic images contained herein for private use is not
discouraged; however, written permission from either the
Nautical Archaeology Program or the Texas Historical
Commission is required for the publication of any material. Any
use of this information should credit the Nautical Archaeology
Program. For additional details, contact Donny L. Hamilton
(dlhamilton@tamu.edu)