Item ref: 2981
Private collection, United Kingdom
During the Napoleonic wars which continued from 1793 until 1815 with only a brief interlude in 1802 at the time of the Peace of Amiens, large numbers of French sailors were taken prisoner. They were held at over thirty prisons in the British Isles, most notoriously Norman Cross near Huntington and in prison hulks on the south coast. Conditions for the prisoners were appalling, due in part to a dispute between the warring nations as to who was responsible for the maintenance of the prisoners. They had to survive and find a means of paying for necessities, so prison markets grew up in which goods were sold and bartered; these included straw pictures, hair bracelets and chains and famously, models of ships made in both boxwood and bone.
The later were sought after and often sold for high prices, and as the market developed some were probably made to commission and perhaps with materials brought into the prisons. Only a few were made to scale, in which case the craftsman must have been supplied with drawings and many, despite being named, bear little resemblance to an actual ship and are often typically French in design.
A large, fine and well detailed French prisoner of war ship model, mounted on a bone base. The ship is carrying a main armament of 48 guns ( a 4th Rate) and 6 bone swivel guns fitted on the deck rails, a very unusual feature on a ship model. The flag at the stern is the pre 1801 white ensign.
The hull decorated with fine carving and mica glazing is fitted in the windows at the stern and also the quarter galleries. The finely carved bone figure head is of a warrior. The ship is equipped with 3 longboats; 2 slung behind the foremast and another from the stern.
Deck fittings include gratings, stairway, 2 galley chimneys, bell and capstan.