Scale: 1:48. A full hull model of the 60-gun warship Centurion (1732) made entirely in wood with metal and organic material fittings and painted in realistic colours. The hull is painted lead white below the waterline with a solid black-painted wale above and varnished wood above the waterline. The armament is arranged over three gundecks, all of which show the guns run out, with port lids open exposing their red-painted inner faces. The vessel is depicted fully rigged on all three masts and bowsprit, the mizzen having a lateen yard. Fittings include a figurehead in the form of a lion rampant; officers’ heads, decorative frieze on a saxe blue ground along the bulwarks; gratings; ensign staff; and two stern galleries, the upper one being open, and quarter galleries. The model is mounted on a pair of wooden crutches and displayed on a rectangular wooden baseboard.

The model was made for Admiral George Anson, 1st Baron Anson. The 'Centurion' was Lord Anson's flagship on his famous circumnavigation of the globe, 1740-4. The maker, Benjamin Slade, was master shipwright at Plymouth in 1747. There is a letter in the NMM manuscripts collection, (AGC/13/25) dated 10 November 1747, from Slade to Lord Anson informing him of the progress in making the model. It was re-rigged in the Museum in 1936, using the original masts and spars.