Sea Witch Diorama
The Diorama of the Sea Witch is from the mid 20th century and would make a great gift for an armchair sailor.   This is an excellent waterline diorama of the famous American clipper ship riding the carved and turbulent waves.  The ship has detailed rigging and linen sails, with remnants of an American flag attached to the gaff sail, and a Chinese flag on the aft mast. The ship has a figure head of a Chinese dragon with an open mouth and partly coiled tail. The background of the diorama is a simple representation of sea and sky with scattered clouds painted in blue. “Sea Witch 18- 7” is painted, in black script, on the front of the glass case, near the edge of the wood base. The wooden case has a finished edge with rustic sides and handsome brass hanging hardware attached to the top of the case.

The Sea Witch was designed by John W. Griffiths and built by Smith & Dimon in New York. She was an early American clipper ship built for the trading firm of Holland & Aspinwall to carry high-valued cargo of porcelain and tea. The ship was 170’3” long and 19’ wide with top mast of 33’11” and weighed 907 tons.  She was launched in 1846, with the hull painted black contrasting with sheer line strip at deck level and the spars all in bright work. On her maiden voyage from China to New York, she broke the record by making the return voyage in 77 days. In 1847, again under the command of Captain Waterman, the Sea Witch made the trip from Hong Kong to New York in 74 days and 14 hours.  This impressive record was never beaten by a merchant sailing ship.  The Sea Witch was only in service for 10 years, and was wrecked on a reef 12 miles off Havana, Cuba in 1856. She was briefly the tallest ship afloat and had more influence upon the configuration of fast vessels than any other clipper ship built in the United States.