Napoleonic Prisoner of War Bone Model of a 78 Gun Ship (1700 to 1900 Anglo French )

Medium

Bone, horse hair, metal pins

Provenance

Provenance: Ex Collection of the Younge Family, Puslinch House, Yealmpton, 
Devon, England. The House in the ownership of the Family Since 1709 
See Finch & Co catalogue no. 13, item no. 59, for a Napoleonic Prisoner of War Model of a 16 Gun Three Masted Merchant Vessel 

Literature

One can only be filled with wonder and amazement at the skill, patience, ingenuity and fortitude displayed by the unknown French seamen of the Napoleonic era who produced these accomplished works of art in the most sordid and terrible conditions of the prison ‘hulks’ with primitive tools and equipment. 

Stripped of all masts, rigging, sails, decorations and embellishments these ‘hulks’ were moored in estuaries and harbours around the coast of Britain. Some were moored off Plymouth housing the captured Napoleonic prisoners of war and it is possible that this model was purchased by a member of the Younge family at that time as a memento or souvenir of the Napoleonic period. 

Description / Expertise

A Fine Detailed Napoleonic Prisoner of War Bone Model of a 78 Gun Ship 
With Standing and Running Rigging above a Detailed Deck the Planked and Pinned Hull with Open Gun Ports and Cannon. A fine arched, curved and galleried transom and a carved horse figurehead 

Excellent condition, contained in a later mahogany and glass case 
Circa 1800 

(Source: finch-and-co.co.uk)