Scale: approximately 1:32. According to the writing on the side of the hull, this model was made from part of the mainmast of the French flagship ‘L’Orient’ which blew up at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. The model is rather crudely made and its hull is not quite in the right proportions, being too deep, so it is probably sailor-made. The rigging appears to be contemporary.

Marmaduke Stalkaart, who also wrote a textbook on naval architecture, built the ‘Seahorse’ (1794) at Rotherhithe on the Thames. It was one of the ‘Artois/Apollo’ class, of which several models exist. The ‘Seahorse’ was not actually present at the Battle of the Nile, but joined Nelson’s fleet soon afterwards.