Scale: 1:32. The model depicts a Thames wherry (circa 1890), a sort of Victorian Thames taxi, plying between Brentford and Kew Gardens in West London. She was built by T. Ward and Sons, Rotherhithe, designed specifically for the carriage of passengers. We can see from the model that she had a steeply raked bow, ideal for running onto the river’s banks so that passengers could safely embark and disembark without the need for a jetty. The exaggerated bow would also have made her streamlined, able to travel more easily through the water which is tidal below Teddington. The oars varied in size from about 14 feet with a single oarsman to about 25 feet with four rowers.

The model was on loan for many years to the London Transport Museum as an example of one of the city’s earliest forms of municipal public transport. Before the onset of the 20th century, it was the only really efficient way of getting around London. We can see the strong framing and distinctive profile, once a common sight on the tidal reaches of the Thames from the 17th to the 19th centuries.