A shipwreck provides the starting point for artists Margaret Duston and Kathy Taylor’s exhibition A Sinking Feeling, which opens this weekend at Valentines Mansion.

On its final return voyage in 1779, East India Company ship The Valentine was wrecked on rocks in a storm off the Channel Islands, losing its cargo.

The artists were able to contact a Guernsey diver and marine archeologist, who offered them a piece of red dyewood, part of the cargo he had in safekeeping.

This piece of timber, which survived 200 years on the sea bed, has been brought to Valentines Mansion and will form part of the artist’s interpretation of events.

The Valentine was one of several armed cargo ships owned by Charles Raymond, who purchased Valentines Mansion in the 1750s.

The exhibition runs from Sunday, May 9 to Sunday, May 23 at Dovecote Gallery, Valentines Mansion, Emerson Road, Ilford. Details: www.valentines.org.uk