Pirates!  In Story & History

A Virtual Tour of the Exhibit on display from July 2000 to Sept. 2001 at the San Diego Maritime Museum
(all photos taken by Mark Allen, curator for the "Pirates! In Story & History" exhibit)

The artwork shown below is copyrighted material and is displayed with the expressed permission of the artist. No downloading or grabbing is permitted

Copyright Don Maitz

This exhibit is set up on the ‘tween decks and orlop deck of the Star of India.  It’s a wonderful environment for this collection, and there is so much to see.

As you approach the entrance to the exhibit, you are already down in the bowels of the Star of India.  You come across a green parrot sitting on a cutlass, a book open to a great pirate tale, and the portrait of a grand buccaneer by pirate artist Don Maitz, promising of things to come.   There are many wonderful original Don Maitz creations in this exhibit.   His paintings are so wonderful to view — he puts so much detail in his creations, much of it with an eye to historical detail, but also a lot of tongue-in-cheek sassiness.  It's fun to spot the visual puns in many of his paintings.   It’s also fun to try to spot his signature in each piece.  The masterpiece of the exhibit is Don’s "Forty Thieves" piece, . . . the original, . . . in person. It’s a large piece - about 6 feet by 3 1/2 feet. The colors are so vibrant.  It's not shown here though -- you'll have to visit the exhibit to see it.   There’s lots of non-Maitz artwork too - some pieces by Howard Pyle, Richard Becker, and many others.

Copyright Don Maitz
Kidd is shown with a watchful eye as his men prepare to bury their treasure, while down below you can view some of the weapons  chosen to represent the pirates' greatest enemies: a Spanish sword from the 1600s, and an English Naval officer's sword from the early 1700s.

There are lots of historical artifacts. I was happy to see a display on another of my favorite pirates/privateers - Hyppolite Bouchard (above), who ravaged Monterey and San Juan Capistrano. 

On display are flintlocks, boarding pikes, cutlasses, swivel guns, blunderbusses, and many more weapons used by pirates. 

Pirates took many captives, and often treated them cruelly.

The whole exhibit is designed so that all ages may enjoy it. For the children, the museum staff has gone out of their way to make it fun & understandable, and to help the children experience life during the Golden Age of piracy. There is a mast and yard set up, complete with footropes, that is used with their educational programs.  But now it’s in the midst of the exhibit.  One can stand on the footropes, while  on the bulkhead in front of them is a long mural of the ocean horizon, so that you can easily imagine you are high up on the mast, out on the foot ropes. Then you spot a painting by Don Maitz, of a crew of pirates in a long boat, heading your way. This painting is mounted on the ocean mural, so the horizon of the painting matches the horizon of the mural. It is a great setting. There is also an area  set up,  that the children can climb into and pretend they are on a pirate ship, with a cannon, and plank to walk.  Pirate costumes are provided, so they can play dress up (some of these were really nice costumes -- wish they had some in my size).   So parents, when you come with your children to see the exhibit, be sure to bring your cameras for some great photo ops.

The Loot that Pirates dreamed of . . . 

. . . the Loot that Pirates often got!

Copyright Don Maitz
Here is the skull purported to be that of Blackbeard’s - the one from the Peabody-Essex Museum, that was originally from Edward Rowe Snow’s collection.  It is presided over by a painting of Blackbeard (used in the National Geographic's World magazine, Nov. '99), by Don Maitz.

A Pirate's Life often came to a bad end.

Buccaneers, and the various rogues of the sea, have inspired many a story and tale.  

Sue Irmo provided many pirate collectibles and old pulp magazines of pirate stories from her vast personal collection. (We met Sue at the Grand Opening  of the exhibit, and learned she had read about the museum’s search for pirate artifacts through the pages of NQG, and thus called them to offer up some of her collection.  She had come all the way from Illinois to see the exhibit).

Movie memorabilia (left side) and a display of artist's sketches (many previously never shown in public), maquettes and models used in the development of Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride (right side).

There are all sorts of movie artifacts, props and collectibles to delight children and adults. I drooled over pirate costumes worn by Errol Flynn, Burt Lancaster, Charlton Heston,  Tyrone Power and more. There's the hat Tim Curry wore as Long John Silver in Muppet's Treasure Island, and props from Hook , and Blackbeard the Pirate.  Oh - they even have a spyglass owned by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Here are the actual puppets from Muppet’s Treasure Island, set up as if they are climbing the rigging.  We were all impressed with the details put into their costumes.

A chest with a treasure of pirate toys and movie memorabilia.

Of course . . .  piracy has not gone away, but the faces, locations  and weapons have changed somewhat.

Of course, there is much more to this exhibit than we have shown you here.  You will just have to go and see for yourself.  Besides, you'll want to get a close up look of the items we did show you.

The exhibit "Pirates!" will be open through August 31, 2001. Admission is included in the regular admission to the San Diego Maritime Museum.  The museum is open from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. (619) 234-9153, x 101 or 128, or visit their web site at www.sdmaritime.com 

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