The History Of Luxury In

An alternative look at the products, ideas and shots in the dark that shaped the modern world.

Cleopatra’s Barge

History’s first superyacht owner was Ptolemy IV, who ruled Egypt from 221 to 205 BCE. Among his royal fleet was a 300ft catamaran that towered 18m above the Nile, propelled by thousands of enslaved men. But it was his descendant Cleopatra, reigning nearly two centuries later, who has captured the imaginations of poets, playwrights and Hollywood producers. Cleopatra’s barge was the first nautical fashion statement, a blazing vessel that included silver oars, colourful sails and a gold-encrusted hull.

Shakespeare’s reference in Antony and Cleopatra was so inspirational to

George Crowninshield Jr, who hailed from a wealthy merchant family in Salem, Massachusetts, that he named his yacht Cleopatra’s Barge when it launched in 1816. At a time when no one cruised for mere recreation, the 83ft schooner was considered America’s first superyacht. The wooden hull and ostentatious interior reportedly cost US$100,000, or US$2 million today.

Inside, Cleopatra’s Barge was a pleasure palace of ornate panelling, gold beams, velvet ropes, fireplaces and chandeliers. The formal dining room used the best porcelain, silver and crystal. The year after taking delivery, Crowninshield and his crew sailed for Europe and, as a goodwill gesture, opened the vessel to the public. Crowninshield died seven weeks after returning to Salem, and Cleopatra’s Barge was eventually sold to Hawaii’s

King Kamehameha II, who owned it until it ran aground off the north shore of Kauai in 1824. Despite just eight years afloat, it established a precedent for modern gigayachts, from Aristotle Onassis’s lavish 325ft Christina O, converted from a WWII Canadian naval frigate, on up to Jeff Bezos’s recently launched 417ft Koru, the world’s biggest sailing yacht.