Scale: 1:16. A superbly made model made of a captain’s gig (circa 1900) by John Hoskin, a shipwright at HM Dockyard, Plymouth. The carvel hull, in particular, has been very deftly executed especially as Hoskin has used mahogany, a difficult wood to work with in scale. It looks as though he has used oak for the knees, another difficult wood for modelmakers.

A gig is a light, narrow, ship’s boat, built for speed. They were originally clinker-built but, by the beginning of the 20th century, were often of carvel construction. Typically they were either four- or six-oared, single-banked. They had provisions for two short masts which could be shipped when required, setting two lug or lateen sails. They were standard issue on the larger warships of the Royal Navy around the time of this depicted example.