doodlemodels00SHIPS IN MINIATURE
Before a warship was built, a model often came first.
In the age of sail, shipwrights made exquisite miniature warships for the Navy Board, and prisoners of war carved others from the bones of their dinners. Thousands survive in British museums.
Pick a model01Principles
02THE SHORT ANSWER
Royal Museums Greenwich holds one of
the world's finest ship model collections.
THE NAVY BOARD
A 1716 order required drawings for new ships and repairs to come with a scale model. The Board probably used them to review a design's appearance, shape and decoration.
Pick a modelPRISONERS OF WAR
French prisoners in Britain carved ship models from bone saved from their meat rations. The finest sold to the public for as much as £40.
See the numbersTHE CRAFT
A 70-gun model of about 1717 at Greenwich is built plank on frame in the Navy Board style, at 1:48. Ship models were also commissioned to win support and investment.
How to look at one03PICK A MODEL
British collections span thousands of years of ship models. The bar shows age: the longer the bar, the older the model.
From Royal Museums Greenwich, the Science Museum Group Collection, the Age of Revolution project and Lawrence House Museum.
04TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
One number from a national collection,
one from a prison workshop.
3,500 items
Items in its ship model collection
Its 17th and 18th century sailing navy models and French prisoner-of-war models are among the collection's world-class areas. Many are on free display at the National Maritime Museum.
ROYAL MUSEUMS GREENWICH
up to £40
Price of a fine prisoner-of-war model
Bone models were sold to the public for as much as £40 each, enough money to live on for a year. In some cases whole workshops were supported to meet demand.
AGE OF REVOLUTION
Over 100,000 French prisoners were held in Britain during the Napoleonic wars (1803–1815), in gaols, barracks and prison ships moored at ports such as Plymouth, Portsmouth, Chatham and Liverpool.
05IN THE MUSEUM
Museum labels and catalogue entries usually answer these questions. They help you tell what a model was made for.
A contemporary model was made when the ship was designed or built, not later. Catalogues say so, as with the 1702–1705 Navy Board model.
Both Navy Board models on this page are 1:48. The catalogue entry usually gives the scale, which tells you how big the real ship was.
Catalogues describe how a model was built. The 1717 Greenwich model is a skeleton, full hull model built plank on frame in the Navy Board style.
Royal Museums Greenwich keeps much of its collection at No.1 Smithery, Chatham Historic Dockyard, where you can arrange a visit to the research area by email.
06THE PRISONERS' SHIPS
Whitby Museum explains that prisoners collected bone left over from their mutton stew, soaked it for long periods in wet clay to make it pliable, then carved it. Some prisoners lived on parole in towns such as Launceston, Cornwall.
Prisoner exchanges between Britain and France were rare, so captives were held for years. They made ships, dominoes, figures and even model guillotines, and many pieces were sold to local people.
07Questions
A 1716 order required drawings for new ships and repairs to be accompanied by a scale model. Royal Museums Greenwich says the Board probably used them to review designs, though it is not clear how far.
Both examples here are 1:48: a 60-gun ship model of 1702–1705 in the Science Museum Group Collection and a 70-gun two-decker of about 1717 at Greenwich.
They saved bone from their meat rations, softened it in wet clay and carved it by hand. Some bone was scavenged or supplied by overseers.
Prisoners on parole had given their word not to escape, so they could live with some freedom in local communities, known as parole towns.
Many are on free display at the National Maritime Museum in London. Smaller museums such as Whitby Museum and Lawrence House in Launceston have bone ship models.
08Sources
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