A 1:48 SCALE 24-GUN 6TH-RATE WARSHIP OF THE 1741 ESTABLISHMENT, POSSIBLY BY A DOCKYARD APPRENTICE, CIRCA 1745

the 30in. hull carved and hollowed from the solid and finished in white below the waterline, black main wale and buff above, lower deck and stern gunports with hinges and rings, sweep ports, chainplates with deadeyes, boarding ladder, regulation lion figurehead finished in gold paint, roundhouses, wooden anchors with bound stocks, stern with carved trumpeting cherub taffrail, plain wooden deck crowded with fittings including bitts, belaying rails, with coiled ropes, belfry with canopy and bell, bound water cask, hatches with gratings, Venetian red capstan, rigged helm and inner bulwarks, guns in stepped wooden carriages with trucks, swivel guns, companionways and other details, bound masts with yards, fighting tops, standing and running rigging with blocks and tackle with sheaths and much other fine detailing, loosely mounted on ebonised cradle stand secured to wooden display base with plaque and brass pad feet. Overall measurements -- 38 x 42 x16in. (96.5 x 107 x 40.5cm.)

National Maritime Museum Caird Collection, 1937, Cat No. 1743-2; de-accessioned 1993 and sold: Sotheby's, Marine Pictures and Nautical Works of Art, 16th July 1993 lot 444; Kriegstein Collection; with Hyland Granby Antiques; Private European Collection.

Literature: Waite, A.H. National Maritime Museum Catalogue of Ship Models to 1815. H.M.S.O. circa 1970., p.95 where notes read The model is probably the work of an 18th century amateur craftsman but the proportions are reasonably good. Its general appearance, disposition of the gun-ports etc. suggests a 24 gun, 6th Rate of the 1741 Establishment, but the hull is a little too fine to represent an actual ship. The rigging is probably 19th century but although on the heavy side it is approximately correct for the period.