Inn Sign “Zum Schiff”

Description

Of all the more than eighty inn and shop signs in the collection, the sign “Zum Schiff” is surely among the finest. The magnificent cargo ship made of metal sheet and bearing the name “Zur Hoffnung” on one side and “à l’Esperance” on the other was probably the work of a panel beater. The details are accurate and fully congruent with contemporary shipbuilding. Viewed as a whole, however, the ship is a fantasy model. Like its tall masts, the faraway destinations stamped on the freight – St. Louis, Havanna, and Constantinople – identify it as an ocean-going vessel. Yet the clinker-built hull, the little cabin window at the stern, the exceptionally wide rudder, and the cargoes piled up on the deck instead of in the hold mark it out as a vessel intended for inland waterways only.
The sign originally belonged to the tavern “Zum Schiff” at Barfüsserplatz 3 in Basel, whose first documentary mention dates back to 1604. It was probably made in the mid-19th century, at a time when the inn was much frequented. The Barfüsser Church was used as a store in those days, meaning that there was always a lot of traffic on Barfüsserplatz. In 1873 the old tavern was replaced by a new building and renamed the “Hôtel du Vaisseau”. In 1888 the model ship was repainted, probably by one “J. Vogt”, to judge by the date and name on one of the barrels. When Christian Schiele-Lorenz took over as landlord in 1889, he renamed the business “Hôtel Métropole”, and after taking down the old inn sign gave it to the city’s Medieval Collection. (GP)