MD -- Annapolis -- US Naval Academy -- Museum -- Ship Models:
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NAMUMO_031102_052.JPG: The following boats were in a special room which was covered by this sign:
The Prisoners' Art:
Men drawn from various occupations served in the French sailing navy. Jewelers, carvers and other artisans manned warships alongside professional seamen. Thousands of these men were captured by Britain's Royal Navy during the prolonged Anglo-French wars of 1755-1815. They faced years of harsh confinement aboard prison ships. To alleviate intolerable boredom, many of the artisan-sailors turned to their civilian trades and crafts.
Working with crudely improvised tools and foraged materials, they made jewelry, games, toys, and both wooden and bone ship models. The impressive quality of their work induced their British captors to give them supplies and permission to sell their wares.
The seafaring British population provided a natural market for the bone models. The prisoner-entrepreneurs spent their earnings on additional rations or on gambling, a traditional way for sailors to part with their money. Some were so satisfied with their financial success that they remained in England after peace was proclaimed in 1815.
The bone model is an impressive and valuable art form whose pinnacle was reached during the Napoleonic Era (1798-1815). It is similar to, but should not be confused with, the nautical ivory carvings from Dieppe, France, or scrimshave, a traditional craft which flourished aboard whaling ships.
The surviving models which surround you constitute one of the world's finest collections. They stand as a lasting tribute to those anonymous seafaring craftsmen of a distant age.
NAMUMO_031102_066.JPG: Design, Construction, and Tools
Because the captive artisans had no ship draughts or plans, they were forced to design the models from memory, probably with the advice of other prisoners who had been professional sailors. Hence few, if any, of the models are built to scale or accurately depict a single ship. Most resemble French warships, but they were often given British names and flags to enhance their marketability in England.
Bone models were made from beef or mutton bones saved from the prisoners' meat rations. Immersing bone in wet clay made it more pliable and easier to shape and carve. The bone pieces were applied over wooden hulls. Masts, spars, and decorations were also carved from bone. The rigging was fashioned from human or horse hair, and later from linen provided by patrons. Other materials such as ivory, brass, and tortoiseshell were used when available.
Bow drills, shaves, and planes were ingeniously fabricated from small pieces of metal and other items found in the prison or later provided by patrons. Scrapers were improvised from the ends of nails pushed through a piece of wood or from broken pieces of glass.
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