I first discovered
Cuttysark Nautical Antiques when I still worked for Wells Fargo as a wholesale mortgage account executive in the Pacific Northwest. Whenever I had a particularly challenging day with customers and situations, (and believe me - there were a lot of those days!) I would find myself wandering down into the Main Street section of Old Town Bellevue. What a fantastic place to simply browse and dream of seafarers in bygone days!
At that time,
Cuttysark had a whole basement full of really questionable and broken nautical items - I found one of my favorite possessions in that basement! An old oxidized brass porthole, it had turned the most lovely shade of green, was very heavy, and had a big crack in the glass right down the middle. It was perfect for my beach cottage - I wonder what happened to it??
In 2004, new owners bought the
Cuttysark and moved the store into the heart of Pioneer Square in Downtown Seattle. As it turns out, Roger Otterbach and his wife were actually neighbors of mine, living just down the beach in Manchester. It is such a treat to visit and check out all of their new antiques! Roger attends several specialty auctions around the country every year to find some very unusual boating, yachting and nautical vintage items.
They also carry all kinds of new nautical items, flags, fine maritime art, and instruments for navigation. Just look and see a few of the images I was able to capture!
A fabulous collection of new and also vintage model boats and sailing ships can be found at Cuttysark Nautical Antiques. I am a little partial to this vintage Chris Craft - can imagine myself, looking a little like Rita Hayworth or Marilyn Monroe with big black sunglasses in a 1950's bikini out for a cruise around Lake Washington.
(please don't laugh - I can always dream...)
Or how about this vintage Lake Union model - something out of the 1920's! Lazy days, slow cruising reading the Great Gatsby in the salon area....
Or, a traditional sailing ship from the Eastcoast.....
How about a vintage Hawaiian Hula Dancer masthead? The Cuttysark has the largest collection of
mastheads that I have ever seen!
I will confess my terrible affinity for old naval dishes! Kicking myself for selling most of the ones that I had in the old Caron's store, although I did manage to hold onto 1 dinner plate and 1 salad plate. Roger not only carries a great collection of old naval dishes from various ward rooms, but some great specialty dinnerware from various yacht clubs on the West Coast too. (I bought 2 small dessert dishes as I just could not help myself!)
Cuttysark is a one of a kind experience, what Roger and his "deckhands" do is so unique - I can honestly think of only one other nautical store (Will save that story for another day:
Maidhof Bros. in San Diego.) that I have been in that truly specializes in nautical antiques. There is always something new to be found at this "can't-miss" treasure trove of an antique store in Pioneer Square! Call me and I will go with you!!!
