Queen Anne's Revenge

Notorious pirate Blackbeard's flagship, Queen Anne's Revenge, was run aground in what is now Beaufort Inlet in 1718.  Some believe Blackbeard intentionally did this.  For more than 200 years the ship  lay in the bottom of the sea off Shackleford Banks in North Carolina.  It was in 1996 that the ship was discovered and since then archaeologists have recovered thousands of artifacts that are being conserved at the QAR Museum at ECU in Greenville, NC.

Blackbeard the notorious pirate who sailed the Queen Anne's Revenge. 

Dan's grandson, Erik, who just finished his Master's Degree at University of Durham, England, is a conservator at the QAR Conservation Laboratory.

Grandson Erik. 

Dan talks with Sarah the Director of the Laboratory.

In addition to learning about  the techniques used to conserve these artifacts, many artifacts were on display.

Xray of shoe buckle.  

Xrays are used to locate artifacts within the concretions.  A shoe buckle was located by xray and later carefully removed from the concretion.

Shoe buckle. 

There have been a number of cannons removed.  A map shows the position of cannons at the site of the shipwreck.

Add Map showing location of cannons and anchors at the site of the shipwreck.

Cannon with cannon balls. 

Perhaps the most impressive artifact is the 12 foot anchor.

Twelve-foot anchor.  

We thoroughly enjoyed the Open House that the Laboratory held on Saturday, and we especially enjoyed learning about some of Erik's work.  

Grandson Erik and Indiegogo

Erik Farrell's one of a kind sgraffito plate.

Grandson Erik Farrell is attending Durham University in England working towards a Master’s degree in Conservation of Archaeological and Museum Objects.  In seeking assistance with expenses for his studies Erik signed up at Indigogo.

 Indiegogo is an international crowd funding site founded by Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, and Eric Schell in 2008. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. As of 2012, it has hosted over 100,000 funding campaigns in areas such as music, charity, small business and film.

Erik is a talented potter and to raise money to help with his graduate studies he has made limited editions of pottery.

For $50.00 one can have a coffee mug made and decorated by Erik. Go to Indiegogo

Erik's limited edition coffee mug.

For $200. one can have a small sgraffito plate, approximately 6.5 inches in diameter, made and decorated by Erik.  Go to Indiegogo

Erik's limited edition small plate.

And for $750. one person can have a large sgraffito plate, approximately 14 inches in diameter, made and decorated by Erik.  Go to Indiegogo

Erik's limited edition large plate. 

To see these lovely limited editions of Erik's pottery, go to Indiegogo.

Or you can even assist Erik by donating $10. and you will receive a personal postcard from him.

As grandparents we are extremely proud of Erik, and I think if you visit this website, Indiegogo, you will see that Erik deserves help in pursuing his graduate degree.   And most of all you could become the proud owner of one of Erik's pieces of pottery.  I suspect these will be collectible one day.