Scale: unknown. A small-scale sailor-made full hull model of the clipper ‘Ariel’ (1865). The hull is carved from a solid block of wood and is complete with rigged masts flying flags. This style of model was produced by seamen who during their spare time at sea or ashore, would present them to family members or sell them to members of the public.

Designed by William Rennie and built in 1865 by Robert Steele & Co., Greenock, the ‘Ariel’ measured 197 feet in length by 33 feet in the beam and a tonnage of 853 gross. Under the ownership of Shaw, Lowther & Maxton of London, it is most famous for almost winning an unofficial race between Foochow, China, and London with the first crop of tea in the 1866 season. It was beaten by the clipper ‘Taeping’, having sailed 16,000 miles in just 99 days, which arrived at the London Docks 20 minutes earlier and therefore was able to be paid the premium price for its cargo. In 1872, the ‘Ariel’ sailed from London for Sydney, under the command of Captain Talbot, but failed to arrive and it is thought that it probably foundered in the Southern Ocean after rounding Cape Horn.