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Antidiluvian Oak from bog near Killarney, Ireland

Object Details

Description
The objects seen here are souvenirs collected by Abby Knight McLane and her husband Allen McLane. The well-traveled couple is thought to have personally gathered the collection, which represents the kind of curio-cabinet collecting that occupied many Americans in the late 1800s.
Though each piece is unique, McLane’s souvenir collection is a typical mix of found objects and items with historical associations: a piece of a cedar doorpost from Government House in St. Augustine, Florida; a stone in the shape of an arrowhead from Mount Pony, near Culpeper, Virginia; “antediluvian oak” from a bog near Killarney, Ireland; a small white stone from the ruins of Pompeii, Italy; and a round metal fragment of the HMS Great Eastern, the ship used in the laying of the Atlantic Cable.
Bequest of Abby Knight McLane, 1919
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Credit Line
The Hussey-Knight-McLane Collection presented by Mrs. Allan McLane
Physical Description
wood, oak (overall material)
Object Name
wood fragment

Featured In

  • Irish American History and Heritage
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