Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
July 15, 1797
Primary Source Reference:
Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser, 15 July 1797
Notes:
In the Guide to the Philadelphia Museum (Philadelphia, 1805), p. 8, this artifact was described as "A throne of curious workmanship, said to be executed by the King of the Pelew islands, out of a solid piece."
The donor was probably Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest (1739-1801), a Dutch-American merchant who is mostly known for his participation in the last Dutch embassy to China under the tributary system. In March 1795, unable to find a ship from China to the Netherlands, van Braam boarded a ship to Philadelphia, where he arrived in 1796, likely bearing the five donations listed in this newspaper notice.
