by Anita Coffin Dammin

22

An Interesting Find

by Anita Coffin Dammin

SOME FIFTEEN YEARS ago, when the ceiling of the Coffin School on Winter Street, collapsed, the heavy plaster miraculously did no damage to the paintings along the walls, but it did destroy two old busts which were displayed on individual shelf-like supports on the east wall. One of these was of Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, founder of the school, and it had been presented by a member of the Mathews family of South Carolina, who were kin to the Admiral through the marriage of Sir Isaac's brother, General John Coffin, to Miss Anne Mathews, of Charleston. Anne Mathews Coffin's uncle was the Royal Governor of South Carolina.

There was considerable dismay with the loss of the Admiral's bust, and it was found impossible to restore it due to the fact that the plasterof-paris composition was broken up and crushed. A few months ago I discovered that a long unrecognized marble bust of Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin was on display at the Boston Atheneum on Beacon Street. It is in superb condition, and I was further excited to learn that the plaster bust had been cast from it.

While reviewing the inventory of the Atheneum's collection of sculpture and paintings last spring, Mr. Jonathan P. Harding, of the Curatorial Staff of the Atheneum, made a startling discovery. In a letter to my son, Tristram Coffin Dammin, he wrote: "I was irked to find that, although the bust was identified as that of Colonel Thomas Handsyd Perkins, it had no provenance. While in itself this was not unusual, it was odd in this case in that Col. Perkins was so important to the history of our Library."

Col. Thomas H. Perkins and Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin had been the best of friends, and Col. Perkins was a president of the Atheneum. In checking further, Mr. Harding wrote that he found no such bust had been exhibited in the Atheneum's Gallery during the 19th century — but a bust of Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin had been on exhibit.

Mr. Harding's letter continued: "I then checked our archives, and found that on January 29, 1827, Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin had presented the Atheneum with a bust of himself."

It is a beautiful piece of marble sculpture — the work of William Behnes, of London in the year 1826. Mr. Harding stated that the latter half of the notation matched the inscription on the bust, thus further identifying the gift.

The marble bust of Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, displayed at the Boston Atheneum and presented by him to that institution in 1827.

24 HISTORIC NANTUCKET

Mr. Harding further mentioned that both Col. Perkins and Admiral Coffin had very similar notations, but that the latter had subsequently lost his identity — "for not only a day, but almost a century".

The inscription in the marble above the Doric columns of the Coffin School reads: "Founded in 1827 by Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, Bart". This marks the same year in which he presented his bust to the Atheneum in Boston.

"The Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin's Lancasterian School is established for the purpose of promoting decency, good order, and morality, and of giving English education to the youth who are descendants of the late Tristram Coffin."

Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin was of the fifth generation from Tristram Coffin, one of the first settlers and founders of the Nantucket settlement in 1659-1660. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 16, 1759, and entered the British Navy as a Midshipman in 1773. Rising rapidly in the naval service he became an Admiral of the White in 1817.

Besides making valuable gifts to Trinity Church in Boston, and to the Boston Public Library, Sir Isaac founded the Coffin School in Nantucket. The School's Charter, when placed in the hands of the first board of trustees, reads:

The Admiral's intentions are plainly expressed in his letters of instruction. They further state that "the institution is to be maintained in perpetuity, and the trustees are to curtail their work rather than exceed their income; the education to be practical, and the poor and needy of his kin should never be excluded".

In 1835, the Admiral gave an additional sum of Lb, 383 sterling, the income from which was, for a certain number of years, to be devoted to the purchase of books for the School library. This library was excellent, with many books presented, by the Masonic Lodge and other individuals, with an especially good selection given in memory of Frances Mitchell Macy.

Besides the good library the School acquired a number of excellent paintings, including the portrait of the Admiral by Sir Thomas Beechey, portraits of William Coffin, first President of the Board of Trustees, and Charles G. Coffin, both by William Swain, and a collection from the brush of Elizabeth Rebecca Coffin, whose remarkable efforts were instrumental in re-opening the School in 1905, after being closed for seven years due to dwindling funds and a decline in students.

The splendid sculpture of Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin at the Boston Atheneum, and the story of its identification, should serve as a strong reminder of the interest and dedication of the man who founded our present Coffin School on Nantucket.