Scale: circa 1:16. A full hull model of the Royal barge used by Thebaw, ex-king of Burma, on the Irrawaddy at Mandalay, before the annexation of Upper Burma in 1895. It is made entirely in wood, painted gold below the waterline and decorated above with an assortment of cut coloured and mirrored glass over a gold painted ground. The vessel is depicted with twelve oarsmen, six Royal attendants and the King seated on a dais positioned amidships, all realistically modelled and painted. Fittings and features include a large gold- and glass-encrusted figurehead in the form of the head of a hooded bird of prey, its wings straddling the port and starboard bows; twelve oarsmen facing to the stern, all with red-painted oars extended; six attendants or servants, four of whom have round paper fans on poles; two tall red-painted flag staffs with triangular red pennants placed for and aft the King’s dais; The King seated on an elaborately decorated throne and dais with two rigid gold parasols on red staffs immediately behind him; large steering oar rigged to the port quarter, painted red; and very tall and elaborately carved and decorated sweeping stern terminating ain a pair of gold embellished finials. The model is mounted on a pair of decoratively carved crutches connected by a single stretcher, all painted gold and displayed on a black lacquer plinth.