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Cable Large Mounted, overall
Cable Large Mounted, angle detail
Cable Large Mounted, detail
Cable Large Mounted, interior detail

Telecommunications, Telegraph, Underwater Cable, Souvenir Relic, Antique, c. 1860s to 1920s

$675

Cable Specimen Mounted on a Wooden Stand
c. 1860s to early 1900s
Genuine relic, various materials including copper and steel wires
Mounted on a wooden stand
5.25 inches long, 1.5 inches diameter, cable
5.5 inches long, x 2.5 inches high, x 2.5 inches depth, as mounted overall
$675

Section of an early underwater telegraph cable, mounted on a wooden stand. It is 1.5 inches in diameter and made of a cluster of seven copper wires, covered with gutta-percha (latex produced from tree sap) and wound with tarred hemp, over which an outer sheath of 12 steel armoring wires is laid in a close spiral. The souvenir section is banded in brass at both ends and the complex core structure is shown by viewing either end. In this side view the steel strands appear in an outer circle surrounding an inner circle of 6 copper wires, with one in the center. The wooden stand has apparent age to it, suggesting it was possibly made to display the cable as souvenir around the time the cable was laid. In addition to being a rare and intriguing relic of early underwater sea cables, this specimen would make a handsome paperweight or desk ornament that might particularly appeal to someone now engaged or interested in communications technology. Indeed, the submarine cable industry was very important in Victorian times and remains so today; there are currently more than 600 active and planned submarine fiber optic cables, measuring over 870,000 miles, criscrossing the ocean floors of the world.

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Description

The earliest souvenir underwater telegraph cables are those sections of the first transatlantic telegraph cable from 1858. Many were made into a souvenirs and sold and guaranteed as authentic by Tiffany & Co., New York. That cable is 5/8 inches in diameter and made of a cluster of seven copper wires, covered with three coats of gutta-percha and wound with tarred hemp, over which a sheath of 18 strands, each of a cluster of seven steel wires, that are laid in a close spiral. The offered example is larger than such Tiffany souvenir cables and is otherwise of a different configuration and size that does not match any of the known early Atlantic Cables (1858, 1865, 1866). One of the world’s foremost authorities on the history of underwater sea cables, Bill Burns, notes the existence of about 700 different underwater cables used around the world that were made in the 1860s to early 1900s period; this cable is likely among those, though we have not painstakingly tried to identify which one. This prospect is further complicated inasmuch as many of the original manufacturing records of underwater sea cables from this period that would help in proper identification have not survived.

Condition: Generally very good, with the usual overall light wear and handling, the cable with oxidation of the metal, the stand with apparent age.

References:

“1866 Cyrus Field: The Laying of the Atlantic Cable.” CanadaHistory.com. https://canadahistory.com/sections/documents/news/1866_atlantic_cable.html (16 July 2024).

Burns, Bill.  Email conversation with George Glazer Gallery, July 18, 2024.

Burns, Bill. “History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications.”  https://atlantic-cable.com/ (16 July 2024).

Klara, Robert. “To Make Tiffany & Co. a Household Name, the Luxury Brand’s Founder Cashed in on the Trans-Atlantic Telegraph Craze.” Smithsonian Magazine. (2024). https://tinyurl.com/yn9jrcz7 (16 July 2024).  

“Submarine Cable Frequently Asked Questions.” Telegeography.com.  https://www2.telegeography.com/submarine-cable-faqs-frequently-asked-questions  (July 20, 2024).

 

 

Additional information

Century

19th Century

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