Pirates!

Last week I began showing off some of my small projects, mostly made from scraps and byproducts. In the past couple years I've made a lot of these little dioramas focused on Eighteenth Century pirates, who represent an element of the revolt against the crowns and companies of Europe, waged by maritime workers, escaped slaves, and other despicable heroes.

The first is a simple one: I stuck two pirates on a shell we found at the beach.

I know Eighteenth Century pirates rarely buried their treasure, but that historic fact is usually followed by the recounting of an instance when pirates did bury treasure. At the very least, buried treasure is an important aspect of the mythology around Caribbean pirates. I have heard such legends often include the burying of victims to guard the treasure.

This next piece is a group of pirates discussing their next move. What do you think they're searching for?

Finally, here is one of my first pirate-related miniature projects. This is a model of the Amity, the sloop of New England pirate Thomas Tew, the Rhode Island rogue who legends tell helped found the utopian settlement on Madagascar, Libertalia, before a cannon ball ended his life in a battle in the Red Sea. The model ship came from Peter Pig , and the flag from Minairons. 

I have a few more little pirate vignettes underway, mostly involving Sam Bellamy's doomed Whydah Galley, another New England pirate story, which I will share at a later date.