MidShipCentury

Midships: The most desirable portion of the ship, where (due to the center of gravity) there was the least amount of movement on long sea voyages. Most liners had their first class accommodation placed here.

Mid-Century: A term used to describe the modernist stylings of the post war world, when mankind looked toward future advancement and innovation.

Updated: January 28, 2010 [images of DALMACIJA, REGAL EMPRESS, the supertanker MONT (the longest vessel ever built and largest ever beached for scrapping at Alang) and GLORY (ex ANNA NERY, DANAOS, CONSTELLATION, REGENT SPIRIT, SALAMIS GLORY) along with December's views of OCEAN ODYSSEY at Alang at bottom of page)].

Still sorting, cleaning and moving things from the container that arrived last summer and preparing for what will be coming from India in the next one. Just bid farewell to the last Luzzati double sided screen from STELLA OCEANIS, which has happily gone to a new home and also have sold most of the Akkermans glass from HAL's STATENDAM of 1957. No arrival scheduled yet for the significant artwork and some fittings from MAXIM GORKIY (including the Aubusson Hambourg tapestries, the ceramic art from the library, the melamine moon panel and more) and some bits from REGAL EMPRESS, including most of the important paintings by William Ware from the dining room and library. But please do check back or sign up to the Facebook Fan page for updates as I am hoping to have the next delivery by early spring.

The door on the left, with the bird's eye maple once again revealed. As yet unretouched door on right has white formica over salmon formica.

I've also been chipping away at the two layers of horrible formica paneling added to the EMPRESS OF BRITAIN lobby doors when she was CARNIVALE. Underneath, the original bird's eye maple veneer has been waiting for almost two decades to be uncovered! Photos soon...

TRELLEBORG and Series Seven Arne Jacobsen chairs. Photos and copyright Peter Knego 2009.

Rediscovering, relisting and discounting some beautiful chairs. Included are some extraordinary Fisker-style chairs from TRELLEBORG of 1958 and classic Arne Jacobsen Series Seven originals by Fritz Hansen. See 1950s chairs in menu to the left...

Akkermans' STATENDAM Pool Glass reassembled, a gathering of just the blue pieces, and the ensemble as it last appeared on the ship when she was SEA HARMONY. Photos and copyright Peter Knego 2009 and 1998.

Only the blue tiles from the Akkermans glass ensemble from STATENDAM's pool are left.

On its own, each piece is a work of art. These are very much like the glass from ROTTERDAM of 1959's stairtower were designed by the by the same artist, Willem Akkermans and executed by Van Tetterode (many thanks to Captain Leo Van Lanschot Hubrecht for confirming the provenance!).

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MidShipCentury (Fittings From Famous Ocean Liners And Cruise Ships) on Facebook

A separate page has been created, accessed from "What's New", for the images of BLUE LADY (ex NORWAY/FRANCE), TOPAZ (ex EMPRESS OF BRITAIN, QUEEN ANNA MARIA, CARNIVALE, FIESTA MARINA, OLYMPIC, THE TOPAZ)and MAXIM GORKIY at Alang.

I've also added pages describing VICTORIA/ANASTASIIS, EMPRESS OF BRITAIN/QUEEN ANNA MAARIA/CARNIVALE/FIESTA MARINA/OLYMPIC/THE TOPAZ, JEAN MERMOZ/MERMOZ/SERENADE and BREMERHAVEN/STELLA MARIS II/VIKING BORDEAUX/MADAGASCAR to the Ship Index, so anyone specifically looking for items from those lovely ladies have all the information compiled on one page

From the usual blissful MidShipCentury timewarp

Peter Knego

Broken Hearts and Hulls (updated January 29, 2010):

REGAL EMPRESS (ex OLYMPIA, CARIBE I)