Boatswain's call

Silver boatswain's call with a barrel-shaped buoy with crown and anchor device on both sides.

The keel is engraved with a foliage design and terminates in a scroll end, with a ring for attachment to a lanyard. The gun has three reeded bands and another at the mouthpiece.

The boatswain's call has a long history both as a symbol of office and as a practical instrument for conveying orders at sea. Its distinctive shape has remained practically unchanged from medieval times to the present day. The call's shrill whistle can be varied in pitch to convey a variety of information, and can be heard above the sound of wind and sea. Such instruments were private possessions rather than official equipment and silver calls like this one made suitable gifts and presentation pieces.

Object Details

ID: PLT0405
Collection: Decorative art
Type: Boatswain's call
Display location: Display - Sea Things Gallery
Creator: Willmore, Joseph
Date made: 1837-1838; 1837-38
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: 140 x 25 x 20 mm