Model ship
Category
Models
Date
Unknown
Materials
Wood, Rope, Chain
Measurements
1829 mm (Height); 1626 mm (Length)
Order this imageCollection
Snowshill Manor and Garden, Gloucestershire
NT 1338786
Summary
Model ship - 100 Gun ship c.1800 of 'HMS Britannia'. Somewhat crude. Three masts and bowsprit, with rigging. Guns in three tiers on each side. Painted black and white above waterline, brown below. Union jack on bowsprit. Figurehead is a lion with a crown and holding shield with fleur-de-lys. Most gunports have cannons in. Tattered ensign on stern; stern cabins detail picked out in dark pink. Crest on stern containing name “Britannia”; lantern above stern. Chains to rudder. Anchor each side of bow. In notebook no.5, page 105 (1340945.5) Charles Wade refers to: 'Large Garret item number 84. Old model of a Hundred gun ship of the Line, planked but roughly made, has a lion figurehead ports & guns, and set of Masts Bowsprit & Jib, Boom. The traditional size for the best Bower Anchor was that the number of cwts in its weight should equal the number of guns that the ship carried. Bought at Cardiff barber's shop.' Includes sketch with dimensions. In notebook Snowshill Manor, page 101 (1340960) Charles Wade refers to: 'From a little barber's shop at Cardiff Docks came a large model of ship 1st rate c.1800, roughly built but decorative. Garret 84'. This quote also appears in Haphazard Notes Volume 2 page 35. In Gloucester Records Office, a postcard with a photograph of the model and a message: 'Herewith photo as request fine ? model. Take no notice of the sails. They have been added by a girl for amusement. The photo is a poor one being taken by myself in a poorly lit room. J.T. £10'. Under address, Mr Tylke, 48 Louisa Street, Cardiff. Also, two letters from the Museum of Wales dated 12th June 1931 reporting on the model ship. Glos. ref. D10423/Box 6/6-7. (1342628) According to records held by the National Maritime Museum the HMS Britannia (1762) changed her name to Princess Royal (1812), Saint George (1812) and finally the Barfleur (1819). The collection at Greenwich includes detailed ship plans for the vessel and various prints and watercolours. Additional information provided by conservator Kelvin Thatcher in June 2018: The model is late 18th century and the fixings from which it is hung suggest that it might have been made as a votive model to be hung in a church. The masts and bowsprit are not original but are well made though the modelling is of a cleaner, sharper style than the rest of the model. The standing rigging is incomplete and incorrectly fitted; the model does not carry yards, spars or any running rigging.
Provenance
Given to the National Trust with Snowshill Manor in 1951 by Charles Paget Wade. In Gloucester Records Office, a postcard with a photograph of the model and a message: 'Herewith photo as request fine ? model. Take no notice of the sails. They have been added by a girl for amusement. The photo is a poor one being taken by myself in a poorly lit room. J.T. £10'. Under address, Mr Tylke, 48 Louisa Street, Cardiff. Also, two letters from the museum dated 12th June 1931 reporting on the model ship. Glos. ref. D10423/Box 6/7.
References
Wade, 1944: Charles Paget Wade, Contents of Snowshill Manor. Volume 5 Second Floor, 1944, Page 105 Wade, 1953: Charles Paget Wade, Snowshill Manor in Holesford Hundred Gloucestershire, Notebook 1953, Page 101 Wade: Charles Wade of Snowshill Manor: personal and estate records. Gloucestershire Archives D10423., D10423/Box 6/6-7