the miniature ships of

August & Winnifred Cr abtree

Vincent P. Scott
the miniature ships of
August & Winnifred Cr abtree

Vincent P. Scott

Newport News, Virginia

Published by The Mariners’ Museum
100 Museum Drive
Newport News, Virginia 23606

Copyright © 2010 The Mariners’ Museum

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without
permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

Printed by Teagle & Little Creative Printing

First published in 2010

Editor: Susannah Livingston

Designer: Sara Johnston
Model photography and jacket design concept: Jason Copes
Typesetter: Jennifer Pattison

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication
The Miniature Ships of August & Winnifred Crabtree / by Vincent P. Scott.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-615-40904-1
ISBN 978-0-615-40904-7
Crabtree, August F. - Art collections. 2. Ship models. 3. The Mariners’ Museum (Newport News, VA) - Catalogs.
This book is dedicated to my wife,
Dorothea R. Scott
 Contents
Foreword xiii

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xvi

Part I: The Artists

Introduction 1

A Promising Beginning 1

The History Buff 2

A Hungry Mind 5

Crabtree Family History 6

The Young Sculptor 9

The Working World 11

Preparing for The Project 14

Tools 14

Materials 15

Research 15

Other Pursuits 17

Finished at Last 18

Finding His Theme 19

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Hollywood 20

Winnifred 24

War 26

The Honeymoon 27

The Huntingtons 31

The First Visit to The Mariners’ Museum 32

More Travels 33

Miami 37

Back to The Mariners’ Museum 39

The Studio Home 43

The Royal Yachts 47

Outside Work 50

At The Mariners’ Museum 52

The Interpretive Tours 54

The 1980s 59

The Last Years: A Personal Reminiscence 61

A Friend’s Tribute 69

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 Part II: The Project
Introduction 70

The Project as Marine Art 70

The Earliest Boats 72

The Raft 73

The Dugout 74

The Egyptians 76

The Egyptian Seagoing Vessel, 1493 B.C. 77

The Phoenicians 80

Carthage, Greece, and Rome 82

The Ships of Ancient Rome 84

The Roman Merchant Ship, circa 50 A.D. 85

The Pleasure Barges of Caligula 88

The Fall of the Roman Empire 89

The Vikings and Their Ships 90

William the Conqueror 93

Mora, Flagship of William the Conqueror 95

Gokstad and Oseberg 95

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The Renaissance 96

Prince Henry the Navigator 97

Christopher Columbus 98

Santa María and Pinta, 1492 100

The Venetian Maritime Empire 104

The Venetians’ Ships 106

The Battle of Lepanto 109

The Galleass Real 110

The Venetian Galleass, circa 1650 111

The Gondola 114

The Gondola of Doge Francesco Morisini, 1692 114

The East India Companies 116

England and the British East India Company 117

The Netherlands and the Dutch East India Company 118

The Dutch Royal Yacht, 1660 119

The “Uninvited Guest” 121

The English Royal Yacht, circa 1670 125

Origins of Modern Racing 125

Charles II and the Royal Navy 126

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The English 50-Gun Ship, circa 1685 128

The Galleys of the Mediterranean 131

Louis XIV of France 133

The Corps des Galères 134

The French Royal Galley, circa 1690 135

British East Indiamen 138

The British East Indiaman, circa 1805 139

Colonial America 142

The American Armed Brig, circa 1810 143

The Advent of Steam 145

Sir Samuel Cunard 148

RMS Britannia, 1840 150

Conclusion 154

The Crabtrees’ Legacy 154

Bibliography 156

August Crabtree’s Favorite Boyhood Books 160

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 The Miniature Ships of August & Winnifred Crabtree

Foreword
In the dozen or so years of my association with The Mariners’ Museum, one thing remains constant
when I meet people who have visited the Museum. “Oh,” they say, “You have that wonderful collec-
tion of ship models!” And although the name “Crabtree” may not be on their lips, I know exactly
which collection they have in mind—The Miniature Ships of August and Winnifred Crabtree.
Indeed, if there is one Mariners’ Museum collection that, more than any other, represents what
a maritime museum can be, it is this world-class collection of 16 miniature masterpieces created
between the 1920s and the 1970s.
Sadly, I never had the honor and pleasure of meeting August Crabtree, much less hearing him
talk about his beloved ships. As a lover of things maritime and as one who is awed by those who
so beautifully combine art, craftsmanship, and deep historical knowledge, I know that this is my
great loss. I did know August’s widow, Winnifred, for a couple of years before her death, and what
she told me about her late husband and their life together was inspiring and fascinating. Through
their partnership and their tireless work, they fulfilled August’s lifelong dream of a collection of
thoroughly researched and historically accurate miniatures that trace the evolution of ships from
ancient Egypt to the middle of the 19th century. In creating these masterpieces—and in choosing
The Mariners’ Museum as the collection’s home—they have given untold thousands an opportunity
to see true genius. No wonder so many people who visited The Mariners’ many, many years ago
still remember the Crabtree miniatures with clarity and fondness.
Now, the person who was closest to August and Winnifred during their years in Newport News,
and who has served as a docent and guide for the Crabtree gallery, has put pen to paper. In both
this book and the accompanying virtual exhibition, Vincent Scott has neatly combined a wealth of
historical information with anecdotes of these two wonderful people and their amazing collection.
Vince is a storyteller of the first order. His knowledge is encyclopedic. With his beautiful late wife,
Dottie, he led countless people through the exhibition and thus carried on the tradition established
by August Crabtree himself—namely, a guided tour of the collection every Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
Vince and Dottie picked up the torch, and I am certain that the Crabtrees’ voices come through
in this lively manuscript.
In this age of new technologies and new challenges for museums, I am very excited about
this product, for it goes to the heart of what museums do: inspire, delight, and educate visitors
by presenting collections through the eyes of the dedicated staff members, volunteers, and

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 The Miniature Ships of August & Winnifred Crabtree

docents who know the collections best. This publication accompanies a new online version of the
Crabtree collection, a project funded generously by The Bronze Door Society of The Mariners’
Museum. The miniature ships of August and Winnifred Crabtree will now and forever be avail-
able to the countless people who visit The Mariners’ Museum actually and virtually. Everyone who
has already seen the collection is indebted to the Crabtrees. Now even more people will join those
ranks, thanks to Vince Scott’s engaging and informative book. Enjoy this wonderful product and
this amazing collection.

—William B. Cogar, President and CEO, The Mariners’ Museum

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 The Miniature Ships of August & Winnifred Crabtree

Preface
The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), American philosopher and essayist

I decided to write this book after August and Winnifred Crabtree passed away leaving no known
family survivors. It has been my goal to get all of it right. August set a similar goal when he began
“The Project.” I hope that this book will help define and preserve the Crabtrees’ legacy for many
years to come.
August and Winnifred Crabtree earned the title “artists” the hard way: they earned it from
scratch. August studied academic accounts of the many facets of marine art and technology and,
with Winnifred’s unwavering help, raised each facet to a new artistic level. The couple’s artistry
places them among the very best in all fields of marine art.
Visitors to The Mariners’ Museum, whether landlubbers, experienced ship modelers, or old salts,
are awestruck by the beauty and intricate detail of the Crabtrees’ miniature ships, which relate the
story of the evolution of water transport from raft to steam power.
“Such patience!” many visitors comment. To the contrary, August Crabtree was the most impatient
man I ever met. “What a hobby!” others exclaim. But these models represent not a man’s pleasant
diversion but rather a lifetime of concerted work toward a well-defined goal. They are, in fact, not
models, but miniature ships—the exquisite work of a self-taught, self-made genius and his artistic
and dedicated spouse.
Part I of this book follows the fascinating life story of the Crabtrees. Part II traces humanity’s
ages-old struggle to meet the challenges of the sea and offers a look at the technology of the histori-
cal period of each of the miniature ships.
The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia, is extremely fortunate to have been chosen
by the Crabtrees as the permanent home for their miniature ships, which are both architecturally
accurate models and masterpieces of art. Unlike most maritime museums, The Mariners’ Museum
is international in its mission “to preserve the culture of the sea,” and is therefore the perfect perma-
nent home for the Crabtrees’ incomparable work. As the English poet T.S. Eliot wrote, “The sea
is all about us.” The miniature ships of August and Winnifred Crabtree—the matchless legacy of
two uncompromising artists—eloquently tell the story of humankind’s relationship with the sea.

—Vincent P. Scott

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 The Miniature Ships of August & Winnifred Crabtree

Acknowledgments
I was moved to write this book following the passing of August Crabtree in 1994. I was inspired
to learn more of his work, to study in depth his research sources, and to study the craft of woodwork-
ing. Earlier conversations with “Augie” helped me to formulate my learning goals. I began to
assemble a workbook that I now call my “script-ship.” The “script-ship” has taken longer to build
than the most elaborate of the Crabtree masterpieces, the Venetian Galleass.
To write a biographical and historical narrative like this one would not have been possible without
the support and encouragement of many people in the know. I must express my gratitude:

To the late Harold Scott Sniffen, curator emeritus and dear friend. Harold was the first to welcome
the Crabtrees aboard and to promote their permanent gallery at The Mariners’ Museum.

To The Mariners’ Museum staff for their invaluable expertise and assistance in making this
project possible.

To selective national and local publications of the last half-century, including National Geographic,
Great Museums of the World, Ensign, the journals of the Nautical Research Guild, Soundings,
Portfolio, and others. Their feature stories and reviews of the Crabtree miniature ships have helped
my efforts.

To Lawrence Maddry of The Virginian-Pilot and Ledger Star and to Mark St. John Erickson of the
Daily Press. Through many articles, Larry and Mark have expressed their admiration for the skill
and genius of the Crabtrees’ work, “the jewels in the crown of The Mariners’ Museum.”

To Colonel Charles M. Parkins, executive director of the Garibaldi Museum near Astoria, Oregon.
Surely it was more than coincidence that brought Colonel Parkins to visit the Crabtree miniature
ships in January 2004. Colonel Parkins arrived in a wheelchair escorted by his daughter Cheryl
and son-in-law Warren Evans of Richmond, Virginia. Our lengthy conversations, then and later,
led to the following reference sources, which supported Part I of this book.

To Kathy Klinger, researcher at the Clark County Museum, Vancouver, Washington. Kathy
provided details of the shipyard where August worked shortly after World War I.

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 The Miniature Ships of August & Winnifred Crabtree

To Captain Warren Anney, historian of the Oregon National Guard. Captain Anney provided
details about the Guard during August Crabtree’s tour of duty in the early 1920s.

To Shawna Gandy, research archivist at the Oregon Historical Society, Portland. Shawna dug deep
into the archives and provided me with information about August’s grandparents and their life
in Oregon, and his father’s work in Portland. Shawna also provided details of the operations of
the Standifer and Kaiser shipyards, where August also worked. Best of all, Shawna steered my
script-ship eastward on the Oregon Trail, through the Cumberland Gap and on to Lee County,
Virginia, the birthplace of August’s grandparents. Special thanks to Shawna and to her good friend
the Colonel.

To my daughter, R.C. Scott, professional writer. Rosanne has been my writing tutor, advisor,
proofreader, and critic. With help from her husband, Jack Crawford, she has excavated many
sources for my references.

To my dear departed Dorothea. She was my principal proofreader, prompter, and pundit through
55 years of wedded bliss. Together we served The Mariners’ Museum as volunteer docents for 16
years. Dottie’s inspirational assistance navigated me through this book. Then and only then, in the
words of Tennyson, “God’s finger touched her and she slept.”

I “hand-crafted” the original manuscript for this book in tribute to the hand-crafting skills of
August and Winnifred Crabtree, and also because I can’t type. Of course it had to be “digitized”
to the modern format, and Justin Lyons, director of marketing and public relations, and Marge
Shelton, assistant to the president and CEO of The Mariners’ Museum, readily volunteered that
service. I am deeply grateful to Justin and Marge for this.

All photographs appear courtesy of The Mariners’ Museum.

—Vincent P. Scott

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 The Miniature Ships of August & Winnifred Crabtree

Part I: The Artists

Genius begins great works, labor alone finishes them.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824), French moralist

Introduction
What manner of man was August Crabtree, who, with his talented wife, created these masterpieces
and elevated maritime art to new heights? To know an artist’s background and life experience brings
a better understanding and appreciation of his or her craftsmanship. To date, only a scantling of
the Crabtrees’ life experiences has appeared in publications. That was what August wanted. The
purpose of Part I is to discover from whence came this rare talent and his lust for ships and the
sea. The following pages trace the events and stories that influenced August and Winnifred’s work.
Much of the information in Part I came directly from the Crabtrees themselves and was passed
on to me during our many pleasant conversations. After August’s passing, Winnifred blessed my
use of quotes from our conversations and from Crabtree correspondence. August’s recollections and
my research on his life and work have also been supported with information from other individuals
noted in the Acknowledgments.
In 1980 August wrote a short autobiography on the envelope of a 78 RPM record. It appears
to be a summary response to the many personal questions he had ignored over the years. A few
quotes from the autobiography appear in the following pages. (The document, which was wrapped
around the tube of a roll of paper towels, is now in the archives of The Mariners’ Museum Library
at Christopher Newport University.)
August once said, “Never set aside a challenge, ever.” That advice has been a great help.

—Vincent P. Scott

A Promising Beginning
August Crabtree said his mother told him he talked before he walked. According to a relative, he
spoke well at age two—even words he did not understand. August attributed his verbal skills to
the songs and ballads his mother and sister had sung to him.

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 The Miniature Ships of August & Winnifred Crabtree

When August was three years old his father, Fletcher Crabtree, bought him a primer so he could
learn the alphabet. The boy sketched the letters and soon memorized them.
Fletcher taught his son to read, scanning the words in newsprint and books with his finger.
August mimicked his father’s pronunciation, smiling as he went. He had exceptional eyesight—an
important factor in his later career. One day all those words came together and he began reading
whole sentences with ease. When his Uncle Frank came to visit, he always brought him some books.
“Kid stuff,” August would say with a grateful smile for Uncle Frank, the County Clerk of nearby
Linn County, Oregon.
From the “kid stuff” books, August began to re-create the pictures he liked with pencil on paper.
Later he created his own images and added color with paint. He also collected small scraps of wood
left over from his father’s occasional carpentry work. He assembled various shapes and sizes of the
scrap wood to see what images he could create.
“Every child is an artist,” wrote Pablo Picasso, “the problem is to remain an artist once he
grows up.”
August Crabtree met the challenge.

The History Buff

He who asks is a fool for five minutes,
but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
—Chinese Proverb

A five-year-old boy was seated at his favorite spot on the bank of the Columbia River near his home
in Portland, Oregon. Alone as usual, he was enjoying his new pastime—whittling a scrap of wood
with his most precious possession, a pocketknife.
Suddenly a sailing ship, a wooden bark carrying lumber, appeared in the distance. The boy
waved excitedly to the crew as the ship passed by. The crew waved back. The lad wondered:
Where are the ships going? Where did they come from? The boy also knew that in the springtime,
thousands of fish swam up the Columbia River. Where did they come from, and where are they
going, he wondered.
He would ask his best and dearest friend, his father.

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 The Miniature Ships of August & Winnifred Crabtree

August hurried home to greet his father with those questions. He always had questions. His wife,
Winnifred, later said, “His first words must have been questions.”
After-dinner get-togethers—an old Scottish custom—were routine in the Crabtree household.
August’s mother and sister would retire to the sewing room to practice crafts, especially quilting.
August and his father would go to the backyard for some basics in carpentry and gardening and a
bit of fun.
On this particular day, sensing August’s questions, Fletcher took him to the front porch for a
lesson in history.
“Where are those sailing ships and all those fish going?” August asked.
“We will go there on the morrow and see,” his father replied. “But now I will tell you the story
of the Great River of the West and you will know.”
August was in awe as he sat on the floor with his legs crossed, listening intently.
August learned that Captain Robert Gray discovered the Great River of the West in 1792. Gray
named his discovery Columbia’s River in honor of his ship, Columbia Rediviva. Sailing first from
Boston in 1787, Gray made two three-year circumnavigations of the globe, seeking new trading
ports throughout the world for the new and rapidly growing United States of America.
August learned that from British Columbia, the Columbia River flows southwest, then turns
west for 350 miles, serving as the northern boundary of the state of Oregon. The Columbia is
rich in fish, especially salmon, which ascend the river each year to spawn in great schools. At the
confluence with its northward-flowing tributary, the Willamette River, the Columbia begins its
role as an estuary, i.e., the part of the lower course of a river in which the river’s current meets the
sea’s tide. It is a wide and winding deep-channel estuary flowing northwest for 100 miles to the
Pacific Ocean.
Accessible to ocean vessels of sail and steam, the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette
Rivers became an inland trade center, aided by the great Gold Rush of 1849. Two New England
developers surveyed the trade center and mapped a town, and the city of Portland in the
Oregon Territory was chartered in 1851. The developers named the city after their hometown of
Portland, Maine.
Fletcher Crabtree well knew the history of Portland and its environs. He had learned much
from his own father by oral family history, as August would learn. (More about that history later
in Part I.) And Fletcher’s work kept him abreast of local industry. He worked first as a watchman
for the old Ainsworth Docks, then as a clerk for the Southern Pacific Railroad, and later as a clerk
for the Northern Pacific Terminal Railroad. He pursued some evening schooling, and in 1907 he

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 The Miniature Ships of August & Winnifred Crabtree

became a telegraph operator for the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. In 1912 he joined
the Western Union Telegraph Company. Fletcher and his wife, Mollie, moved their homestead five
times to accommodate his job changes.
Portland became the grand terminal for lumber, grains, sheep, cattle, and metals trafficked over
the Columbia River Valley by rail and sail. Mills and processing plants were established in Portland
and along the Columbia River Estuary. By 1910 (the year of August’s first history lesson), there were
20 miles of waterfront, four miles of docks, and two major rail freight lines.
Sailing ships were the prime movers of lumber and grain, for they could easily anchor anywhere
along the Columbia. The wind, free and clean, was favorable for sailing vessels all along the Great
River of the West.
August enjoyed his history lesson, but his mind was set on finding the answer to his second
question: “Where are the sailing ships going?” Fletcher made arrangements with one of his engineer
friends so that he and August could ride in the locomotive the next day. Their route included the
rail line that nearly paralleled the Columbia River.
Early that next morning a loud voice called “All Aboard!” Anxiously August climbed onto the
train and sat beside his proud and smiling father. With a toot-toot and puffs of steam and smoke,
the locomotive tugged and pulled a long train of railroad cars. The train had to move slowly along
Portland’s busy waterfront. To the right August could see the sailing ships on the river. He waved
and cheered.
The slow pace of the train gave Fletcher a chance to explain what was going on in some of the
many buildings along the way. He pointed out a cannery, a flour mill, a meat processing plant, and
a lumber mill.
When the locomotive had passed the last building on the Portland waterfront, August pointed
across the river. “That’s Vancouver in the state of Washington,” said his father. August would later
work as a shipwright’s apprentice at the shipyard in Vancouver.
The train headed northwest at moderate speed. August waved and cheered at every sailing bark
and schooner. There were steamships on the river, too, making smoke and noise like the locomo-
tives. They did not impress August, though he dared not tell his father. “We’re bound for Astoria,”
said Fletcher. “We’ll be there in about two hours.”
Eighty miles northwest of Portland, Astoria was founded as a fur-trading center in 1811 by financier
John Jacob Astor and was named in his honor. Today it is the principal northwest coastal port for
heavy trade.

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 The Miniature Ships of August & Winnifred Crabtree

Fletcher concluded his lesson on the history of Astoria as the train approached the outskirts.
After a tour of the train terminal, father and son walked to the shore. It was a bright and sunny
afternoon on the beach. August was awestruck as he stared at the place where the sky touched the
water. “That’s called the horizon, son,” said his father.
“What’s on the other side? ”
“More horizons,” his father answered.
Father and son waded along the beach. There were conversations about blue water, waves, and
horizons. It was a long and tiring day, but fun and full of learning.
The next day, after helping his mother with a few chores, August slipped away to his favo-
rite spot on the Columbia. He waved to the passing ships as always, but this time, he knew where
they were going.
A history buff had emerged.

A Hungry Mind
History became the background and the inspiration for August’s chosen profession—sculpting
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August gained a deep appreciation of the early history lessons his father had given him as he 2010.
experienced life on the Columbia River and its environs. In fact, he often said, “I lived it over and
over again.”
August the history buff stood academically at the head of his class in elementary school. He
was a good athlete and took part in some after-school games, but he preferred the banks of the
Columbia—and the library. An avid reader, he had discovered the reading room of the branch of
the Library Association of Portland, near his home. His early favorites were Call of the Wild by Jack
London and Typhoon by Joseph Conrad.
August was intrigued when the librarian told him about the authors’ lives. Jack London had
sought adventure as a crewman on sailing and fishing vessels. Joseph Conrad, born in the Ukraine,
had served as ship’s mate and master on several commercial sailing vessels. Both authors had
included their personal experiences in their novels.
One day August asked the librarian for a book on ships. She handed him a book on ship models,
and he studied it intently. Noting his curiosity, the librarian showed him prints of paintings by the