Warship (1800); French; Third rate; 74 guns

Scale: Unknown. A contemporary full model of a 74-gun two-decker warship mounted on a slipway prior to launching. The hull is carved from a solid piece of boxwood and is finished in a natural varnish. It is complete with a variety of fittings including, capstans, guardrails, deck hatches and gratings, carved quarter and stern galleries, catheads and a figurehead on the bow. The hull is set on keel blocks on the slipway and supported by shores which would have gradually been knocked away prior and during the launching ceremony. The model is fitted to a wooden baseboard with a carved and fretted wooden fence around the perimeter.

This style of model was popular with the visitors to the prisons and as such was made in fairly large numbers by the French prisoners of war, with large a number of these still surviving today.

Object Details

ID: SLR0638
Collection: Ship models
Type: Full hull model; Block model; Scenic model
Display location: Not on display
Date made: Circa 1800
People: Barrow, A.
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Royal United Service Institution Collection
Measurements: Overall model and base: 62 x 242 x 146 mm