The Collection

Bone Model Ship

This is a model of a 74 gun ship, built around the beginning of the 19th century, and made of bleached white bone.

This was a very common type of warship during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

This was the era of the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary War as well as the slightly later Napoleonic Wars. This period encompasses the time when these models were being so painstakingly constructed (1775-1815 and just after).

This model, named 'Cesar', is roughly 65 centimetres (about 2 feet) long and is made almost entirely of bleached white bone. It has more than the usual complement of guns, having 78 as well as 6 carronades on the poop deck but this is usual for these models. The 'over-engineering' of Prisoner of War models is a common feature and is well represented on this piece. For instance each one of the 9 yards has studding sail booms, something that would never have occurred on a real warship, but this is part of an overall attention to detail that has set this genre apart.

Further examples of detail can be seen in the accuracy of the rigging, all the different types of ropework (shrouds, cables and hawsers) as well as the actual form of the running and standing rigging being faithfully reproduced. Fine decorative carving can be seen on the figurehead, the quarter-gallery and the stern of the ship and even on the railings of the fighting-tops.

A further feature of this model is its base which is boxwood, inlaid with walnut and mahogany, and has a boxwood and ivory balustrade. In addition there is a cord coming out of the side that runs up into the ship and operates the gun retracting mechanism.

This model, donated to Dover Museum in the late 19th century, is reputed to have been made in Dover Castle by a French prisoner of war in about 1802; the ensign is certainly of post-1801 date. (Dover was one of many castles that functioned as prisoner of war compounds). A story (probably apocryphal!) relates that the model was unfinished at the time of the short-lived Peace of Amiens in 1802 and so, rather than be repatriated, the prisoner stayed on in the Castle to finish it off. By the time he had done so, Britain and France had resumed hostilities!

READING : Ewart C. Freeston : Prisoner-of-War Ship Models 1775 - 1825; Nautical Publishing Company Ltd. (Lymington, 1973)