Paper sculpture of a 64-gun ship

Intricate high-relief paper sculpture of a Royal Naval warship under sail, seen in port broadside view on a paper sea, with small figures of the officers and crew on deck and in the rigging. The object is mounted in a wooden, glass-fronted case.

The ship flies a common Naval pennant, a red ensign and a Union Jack, all painted blue and red with the white represented by the paper. The crew dress is similarly coloured, with the addition of brown, black and gold and with the officers (notably the captain on the quarter deck) clearly wearing the 1748-64 pattern uniform. There are two horn players playing a fanfare on the poop; also a man with another instrument and another with a clay pipe in the hoisted-in launch or longboat. An officer at the cathead is belabouring a seaman with a stick or 'starter'. The ship has a standard full-length lion figurehead and the initials 'GR' (Georgius Rex) above a crossed sword and gun barrel on the lower part of the quarter gallery. The paper strip forming the bottom of the sea is neatly signed and dated: 'Augustine Walker (Invt) et Fecit at Rye in Sussex 1761'. A later label on the front of the case, now very worn reads 'PAPER MODEL of a 64 by/ AUGUSTINE WALKER of Rye 1761'.

Object Details

ID: OBJ0531
Type: Paper sculpture
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Walker, Augustine
Date made: 1761
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Collection
Measurements: Overall: 460 x 539 x 78 mm
Parts: Paper sculpture of a 64-gun ship