Model of craftsmanship

Press, 29 August 1986, Page 22

Model of craftsmanship

A special feature in the Canterbury Museum shipping hall is this delicate model of a French war ship, representing a 52-gun frigate or corvette, fully rigged with great attention to detail.

Measuring only 30cm long and 25cm high, it dates from the period of the naval wars between Napoleonic France and Great Britain (1803-1805) which were to culminate in the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of Admiral Nelson.

During the bitter fighting many French ships were captured and their crews held as prisoners of war. Provision for their detention in England posed a logistical problem which was partly solved by segregation. The officers were billeted in various prisons towns where they were allowed free on parole; those with money were able to live quite comfortably.

Lower ranks were less fortunate, some being sent to specially constructed prisons in isolated areas while the truly unlucky ended up in prison ships or hulks. These were condemned naval ships stripped of all equipment and comforts and left to rot in the rivers and harbours of Chatham, Portsmouth, and Plymouth.

Some of these prisoners, impressed against their will into the French Navy, were skilled carvers and ivory workers from Dieppe, which had been a notable centre for the productions of such ivory trinkets as snuff boxes, chess pieces, and small figurines. While the stark confines of a prison hulk might not encourage artistic endeavour, those in slightly better conditions whiled away the tedium of imprisonment by making attractive items

from the mutton and beef bones saved from their rations. The quality of this work, even with such improvised and substitute materials, ensured a ready sale.

In time; each prison came to organise regular weekly markets where the inmates were allowed to sell their products to the local populace in return for the cash which enabled them to replenish their materials and also to supplement their diet with small luxuries.

Some of their fellow prisoners who were full-time sailors joined in the enterprise and assisted with detailed knowledge of ships and rigging, the resulting models being solei by such combined working groups for their joint benefit. As the market developed, many specific ship models were commissioned by officers of the British Navy who wished to have a permanent memento of their exploits.

Because it was the material most readily at hand, and also of the most appropriate scale,

human hair was used to represent the rigging, being plaited and knotted with great skill. In some instances the craftsman’s ingenuity extended to the construction of moving parts, some on the larger models having string-operated retractable guns of three decks.

Individual items were sold at prices tightly controlled by the authorities but there is a record of two prisoners working for six months to produce a 74-gun model ship wih hair rigging which sold for forty pounds. That roughly equalled the annual wage of the average worker in Britain at the time.

Such prisoners-of-war work is much sought after by collectors, and not surprisingly the demand has been met by large numbers of late nineteenth century fakes. In most cases, however, the quality of the work is far below that of the French prisoners who had the time, incentive, and ability to produce these exquisite models of craftsmanship.

By

RALPH RICCALTON