MODEL OF OLD SHIP.
RELIC OF NAPOLEONIC WARS. FRENCH PRISONER'S WORK. Carved from bone by a French prisoner of war in in Dartmoor Prison, some 150 years ago, a perfect model of a French ship of war of about the year 1790 is in the possession of the Wanganui Museum authorities. The length of the model, without the bowsprit, which is broken, is 26 inches. The name of the battleship from which the model was designed is not known at present, but it was a three-mast-ed yessel carrying 128 guns. Every part of the model is in perfect proportion, and even the guns and carriages—miniatures about an inch long —have the characteristics of full-sized cannon. The planks in the decks have been made separately and laid on to wooden bases and secured with brass spikes. 'Tween decks are carved so that a glance through the gun-ports reveals the furnishings of the ship as they would have been in the original; the stern is beautifully chased, and on the poop is the royal crown. The anchors are perfect miniature models. At present the model is bare of rigging, and the three masts have been stepped, but the fittings and most of the missing pieces- are in the possession of the director of the museum, Mr J. H. Burnet, who will superintend the refitting of the model before it is placed on exhibition.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THS19310720.2.4
Bibliographic details
Thames Star, Volume LXV, Issue 18245, 20 July 1931, Page 1
Word Count
231MODEL OF OLD SHIP. Thames Star, Volume LXV, Issue 18245, 20 July 1931, Page 1
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