A French Prisoner of War ship model, circa 1811. Constructed of bone, whale baleen, and whalebone. Model is of a British 58 gun, 3 rd rate ship. It has an unusual retracting mechanism that extends and retracts all guns mounted in the hull. All rigging is complete and has a number of old flags in position. Mounted on a wood base which has bone posts,railings and ivory horse heads fore and aft, also a brass shield inscribed "French Prisoner of War Bone Model Ship 1811"

Ship appears to be completely original , and is in very good condition. Mounted in old dome glass case size: 16 inches high x 8 16 1/2 inches Wide x 8 inches deep. The model measures: 11 1/2 inches long x 9 1/2 inches high.

Provenance is from the William J. Boylhart Marine Collection.

A masterwork ship model in precious metal, this rare and unique Steamship Sidewheel Model LAURA emerged from the hands of John Dean Benton, a 19TH Century American East Coast jeweler, silversmith and artisan modeler of renown. Built in exacting scale, the animatronics of the walking beam engine and paddles are driven via a pulley system by the high-quality and completely restored cased music box below. Set off with such details as the cut $1 gold pieces in the paddlewheel centers and the two-tone of polished solid silver with gilded accents for the deck runs matching the gilded flag staffs, engine rail and four lifeboats, amongst other features. In its time, and today, Benton music-box models were considered the pinnacle representation of luxury ship models. Several, including LAURA, were retailed through Tiffany & Co. of New York.

Assessing the quality, this model is an amazing work of the jeweler’s craftsmanship and artistic vision. The American coastal passenger liner was an early iron sidewheeler built in 1866 by Harlan & Hollingsworth Shipbuilding Company of Wilmington, Delaware, with the engine the project of Morgan Iron Works. Shipping and railroad magnate Charles Morgan kept ownership of the vessel, and primarily used her in Long Island Sound, while his transportation businesses ran from New York into the southern ports of the Unites States, places such as Charleston, New Orleans and Houston, making him a 19TH Century multi-millionaire. He and Cornelius Vanderbilt were the leading purchasers of Benton’s models, mostly ordered on direct commissions, while LAURA sold through Tiffany & Co. in 1867. It is believed that the Harlan & Hollingsworth Company bought it as a presentation gift for Morgan in gratitude for his patronage. Morgan had done this the year prior for Samuel Harlan; a Benton silver model of his namesake steamer, HARLAN. Benton was born in Boston in 1824, and his listed residences include Providence, Rhode Island; Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. The first of his gold-and-silver models were of the Vanderbilt’s ironclads MONITOR and ROANOKE, and Benton is listed within the U.S. Quartermaster’s Department roll in 1862. The New York Herald reported on his first public exhibition in 1864, showing the ship model COMMONWEALTH, made for Captain Williams of the Stonington Line. It is known that Benton made other types of models such as locomotive railcars, architectural displays and other mechanical arraignments besides ships. It is recorded that he made approximately 29 silver ship models. Nineteen of these are known of today, with these split between private collectors and in permanent museum collections. The LAURA was one of two Benton models directly deacquisitioned from the Henry T. Ford Museum in 2002.

This extremely accurate model shows the complete ship, from her hull and machinery to the bridge and three-tiered above-deck passenger levels and covered bridge helm. She had a rather shallow draft, and would have proved quite capable in New York’s bay and river trades. It is an exceptional antique ship model combining artistry and history into this valuable artifact.

Some of the Known Silver Ship Models by John Dean Benton are in the following public collections:Mystic Seaport Museum, Massachusetts; Mariner’s Museum, Newport News, Virginia; Fall River Marine Museum, Massachusetts; Vanderbilt Museum, Centerport, New York; Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia; Museum of the City of New York; and National Maritime Museum, San Francisco. Only a few others are known of in private collections.

A Letter from the Henry Ford Museum Accompanies the Model.

Solid Silver with Gilt Model, Measures 14¾ L x 3 B x 4½ H Inches

Glass & Nickel Case Cover Over the 19⅝ x 8⅞ x 5¾ inch Music Box, With Two Silver Plaques Listing LAURA, Charles Morgan and Tiffany & Co.

Overall 21 x 8⅞ x 14⅞ Inches

An exquisite carved bone ship model with a full array of sharp details and set on its original base, this is one of the best we’ve seen in some time. The exquisite scaled ship is the ACHILLE, a stalwart ship of the British Admiralty, launched in 1795 as the premier class of Third Rate warships. She carried 74 guns and 640 men. The makers of this model spared no detail as they completely built their miniature scale ship.

The hull is completely planked and pinned, bone and some baleen, and the overall length measures 21 inches to make this a perfect medium sized Bone Model. The model features a polychrome figurehead of its namesake Grecian hero of Homer’s “Iliad”, somewhat ironic because of his power came from being dipped into a magical river by his mother, all except the heel by which she held him. The warship would show no known weakness, a match for nearly any size that would come against it, and the ship would serve out its days until being broken up in 1865, an extreme longevity for such a vessel. The great minute deck details including the balustraded rails, the deck capstans and ladders and holds, all cross hatch grate covered.

This bone and baleen model sits on its original base decorated with an intricate boxwood parquetry. The base is surrounded by delicate bone balustrade capped with a wood rail, and taller bone posts. Her identity is inscribed on a name plaque on the stern, matching the known plans and look of the Napoleonic warship perfectly.

A quality model built of the demanding materials of bone and baleen and matching the intricate style of prisoner craft-works during the Napoleonic Wars, this detailed warship is of the EDGAR, named after the last true Anglo-Saxon King of England (943-975). The two full gun decks and upper deck armaments would have proved to be a formidable opponent to any other ship. The forecastle drops with the presentation of the royal figurehead, and is bracketed by the rail cages to serve as a fighting platform. The name is carved in the sternboard as well, painted in a vivid red polychrome. Probably made in the 20TH Century, its quality is such that it rivals the artifacts made in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, especially in concert with its highly ornate marquetry base of burled walnut, rosewood, pearwood and ebony. The is completed with the custom glazed mahogany case.

Representing one of the backbone ships the 18TH Century Royal Navy fleet, this model features a broader build than some later warships, and lines and a rig that had evolved to a sophisticated science for handling the large ships. The rails are capped in baleen, as are the bulwark lines, and the gun ports are swung open to show the bronze cannon barrels. Two pairs of large anchors are catted in place to be ready hold the vessel fats, a rather unusual set-up.

While not amongst the oldest of this type, the bone carving has a nice aged feeling and harkens back to the period when England was emerging as the dominant power in the entire world. Prisoner-of-War bone models are very infrequently available, and are actively sought out. The ship modelers possessing the skill, now or ever, to make a work of this quality is rarer still. This is a very good and large scale warship model that will hold an audience in awe and impress in any collection.

This model of the First Rate Warship of the British Admiralty is a highly detailed and fine example of the artistic craftsmanship of the prisoners, mostly French but some Dutch and British, held during the Napoleonic Wars (1795-1815). These superbly accurate and highly detailed models are considered by enthusiastic collectors worldwide as some of the most desirable and important ship models ever created.

Representing one of the largest Ships-of-the-Line from the period, this model features great sharp lines and an intricacy of the rig and gear that is to be marveled over, regardless of the harsh circumstances of its construction. The masts have ring slices of gold and baleen between bone sections, and the main deck has a baleen center dividing the bone planks. Gun ports have red polychrome to echo those in real life, and large anchors of bone and metal are position to drop and hold firm. Above the bow’s beak a Warrior Figurehead, sword aloft, is quite visible. Special note should be given the detailed base made of a bone tray and feet with inlays of colorful woven straw.

These rare Prisoner-of-War bone models has been available in very few numbers, the decline making it more difficult for private collectors to compete with public institution buyers for acquisition of these historically important and aesthetically appealing artifacts. This is a fine model of an intricate scale that would be appreciated in any collection.

Built in 1881 by Dobie & Co. on the Clyde River, the Steam Ships NOTTING HILL and TOWER HILL were the first custom-built twin screw steam/sail ships to be put into regular scheduled Transatlantic service. Owned and managed directly by W.B. Hill and W.H. Nott, forming the Twin Screw Line (quickly becoming known of as the Hill Line) they served their inaugural season to Calcutta, and then shifted routes and began passenger and freight service to New York in 1882. They both contributed to the progress and innovation of speed and safety at sea, albeit in different ways.

This fine early dockyard model of the sister ships is a great overall presentation, showing the 425 feet of length with the unique raised plinth with keel blocks elevating the model in the original exceptional glazed carved oak case with period glass. Details of the ship’s names and shipbuilding company are deeply engraved. Throughout the decks of the extreme narrow beam-to-length ratio the ship is precisely fitted out; a full array of masts, rigging, and structures complete. The hull is finely painted in a stark white with black topsides, and the maple-veneer decking is plank drawn in ink. The fittings are gold-and-silver plated throughout, giving a luster in precious metals to the common equipment and high-end instrumentation onboard.

The twin-screw steamers were powered by 600hp, compound inverted four-cylinder engines by J. Howden & Co. of Glasgow; and were complemented with the complete sailing rigging of a four-masted barque. Measuring 420 ft. with a 45 ft. beam, the ships each weighed in at 4,021 gross tons.

Notting Hill held a relatively short service career to the point where the ship left London on Jan. 19th, 1884 laden with 3,000 tons of cargo and about 100 persons on board, including “some cattlemen and 10 stowaways”, according to a British news account. Hitting some stormy weather a week out, the ship then encountered several ice floes, bringing her speed to a minimum but failing to prevent her collision with an ice berg and despite battling for three days with bilges and pumps, they had to abandon the ship some 600 miles from the coast of Nova Scotia.

Her sister fared better, and after three years as primarily a cargo carrier, she was fitted out with 70 second-class passenger accommodations and some steerage space to add to her 30 first-class berths. Still, there were so many ships coming into the service that by 1891 the transatlantic lines began a series fo massive consolidations, combining the Hill Line with the Wilson Line, then joined by the Furness-Leyland group. Finally the Allan Line purchased TOWER HILL in 1897, renamed her TURANIAN and ran her two more years until she was stranded and left off the Cape Verde Islands in November 1899, eventually salvaged for scrap.