Cargo vessel; Swatow

Scale: unknown. Model of a swatow or Hong Kong sea-going junk made entirely in wood with metal and organic material fittings. The model is unpainted and stained and varnished a mid-brown colour. The hull is flat bottomed with a keel and stem foot that is pierced. The stern is rounded and slopes upwards. Plank lines are inscribed on the hull and there is an oculus carved and painted on the port and starboard side. There are rubbing strakes on the port and starboard sides running the entire length of the hull. The rectangular rudder is fenestrated with a double row of diamond pattens. The rudder well houses the rudder post which extends upwards through the poop deck. The square stern extends beyond the hull and contains four panels with Chinese characters on roundels in each panel. The square stern has a taff rail and there is a gun on a swivel carriage positioned to the port side of the taff rail. There are stern galleries projecting from the port and starboard quarters that continue into a walkway extending from the hull on both sides. The poop deck is equipped with two swivel guns, a small covered hatch, a tiller arm rigged to a raised transverse plank and a windlass positioned directly aft of the rudder post. The poop deck cabins are positioned on three sides of the poop, each having a sliding entry port. The main deck has two masts, the foremast is raked forward and set with a single sail with bat terns. The main mast also has a single sail with battens in the same shape and configuration as the fore sail. The tabernacles of both masts have windlasses on either side but the foremast windlasses are used to work the anchors. The main mast like the foremast has a lightening conductor but is decorated with a fish and a long red pennant. The main deck is equipped with four swivel guns, a pair of anchors, a work boat with a composite oar and a paddle, a companion ladder and three cargo hatches with covers. The bluff bow has a painted screen figurehead set within a frame made from four timbers that overlap at the corners. The model is displayed on a pair of shaped polished wooden crutches on a lozenge shaped baseboard with a bevelled edge.

Object Details

ID: AAE0004
Collection: Ship models
Type: Full hull model; Rigged model; Sails set
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Unknown
Date made: Before 1913
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.
Measurements: Overall (rigged) : 855 mm x 965 mm x 380 mm
Parts: Cargo vessel; Swatow
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