On the Water

The On the Water Exhibit was on display at the museum thru the Fall of 2018. The exhibit highlights Oxford’s rich history on the waters of the Tred Avon River, its tributaries, and the Chesapeake Bay. The exhibit features pieces about watermen, the oyster and crabbing industries, boating, and more. Below are just some of the many pieces displayed in the exhibit.

“Three Original Illustrations”

Pencil on Paper
By Consuelo Hanks

These drawings are part of a recent generous gift to the Oxford Museum of 13 illustrations that artist Consuelo Hanks produced for William Warner’s 1976 Pulitzer Prize winning Book “Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay.”

Ms. Hanks was born and lived most of her life in Maine, where she created watercolor paintings and pencil drawings ad illustrations for the New Yorker Magazine, Wooden Boat magazine and many books. She was a founding member of the American Society of Marine Artists.

Oyster Shucker’s Stall:

These stalls were used in packing houses to keep the shucker’s feet out of the water on the floor and to protect their legs from cuts by the oyster shells dropped to the floor after shucking.

Oyster Knife (located top right of the oyster shucking stall):

Tool used by shuckers to open oysters

Oyster Pail:

Each worker used stainless steel pails like this to hold his shucked oysters before taking them to be tallied.

To learn more about the Oyster industry in Oxford, click here.

Painting:

“Respite in the Marsh”
Oil on Canvas
By Howard Lapp

Palmer Gasoline Engine:

This single-cylinder Palmer Model L engine was popular with watermen from the 1930’s through the 1950’s. It could be run at a very slow speed making it easy to fish a trot line.

The trot line was a long line attached at each end to an anchor and a buoy so that it stretched along the river bottom. Baits were attached at intervals along the line. To fish the line, one end was brought up and passed over a roller on the side of the boat. As the boat moved along the line, crabs were brought to the surface, hanging on to the bait.