Sailor Made Sea Chest Beckets With Cleats - Sold
A pair of antique sailor made rope work chest beckets with carved wooden cleats.
Beckets were used as handles on sea chests. When sailors moved from one ship to another, all their ship board belongings were stored in these chests. Experienced sailors created intricate fancy rope works which indicated the level of the seaman's skills.
Typically beckets were made around a core of rope or twine. The general shape is formed by taking a varying number of strands and whipping them together using small twine, binding them and leaving the ends open to be made into eyes or grommets. The result is then covered by fancy rope work, which includes macrame stitches and embellishments such as "Turks heads". The final step is to form the bolt rope which passes through the eyes and has Turks head on the ends. A wooden cleat is used to attach the becket to ends of the chest. This is a very nice example of a sailors craft.