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A Prisoner-of-war bone model of a 90-gun ship-of-the-line, French, early 19th century

This lot has been removed from the website, please contact customer services for more information

Lot 118
A Prisoner-of-war bone model of a 90-gun ship-of-the-line,
French, early 19th century

£ 15,000 - 20,000
US$ 19,000 - 25,000

Napoleon Bonaparte
The British Sale

27 Oct 2021, 14:00 BST

London, New Bond Street

A Prisoner-of-war bone model of a 90-gun ship-of-the-line, French, early 19th century
the three-masted vessel with standing and running rigging, pinned and planked hull with horn strakes and red painted gun ports, retractable brass cannon operated by strings and toggles at the stern, three long boats on davits, carved and polychromed warrior figurehead, deck details include belaying rails capstan, water barrels stove pipes, gratings bell canopy and companionways, on rectangular parquetry wood stand, the model 30.5cm x 43cm x 13cm, together with a collection of correspondence relating to the provenance dated 1891 and later restoration invoices, in later glazed display case,
37cm x 56cm x 23cm cased

Footnotes

  • "From beef-bones of captivity/ The shapely hull was made/ Whose making helped upon their way/ Such limping hours and slow/ As measured out the leaden day/ That none but prisoners know"
    - Ode to a Prisoner of War Bone Ship Model

    The present lot was likely to have been made by a French prisoner-of-war in an English prison after the Battle of Trafalgar on the 21st October 1805. The model is constructed using delicately carved and sewn beef-bones. Such bones would have been collected from a prisoner's rations of half a pound of meat per day, and subsequently carved. After completion, bone models would have been offered in regular markets held within the prison, and attended by local townsfolk. As many Napoleonic prisoners were conscripts, some would have been highly skilled carvers and craftsmen.
Contacts
  1. Nadia Bellingeri
    Auction administration - European Ceramics
    Bonhams
    Work
    101 New Bond Street
    London, United Kingdom W1S 1SR
    Work +44 20 3988 6300
  2. Simon Cottle
    Specialist - European Ceramics
    Bonhams
    Work
    101 New Bond Street
    London, United Kingdom W1S 1SR
    Work +44 20 7468 8383
A Prisoner-of-war bone model of a 90-gun ship-of-the-line, French, early 19th century
A Prisoner-of-war bone model of a 90-gun ship-of-the-line, French, early 19th century
A Prisoner-of-war bone model of a 90-gun ship-of-the-line, French, early 19th century
A Prisoner-of-war bone model of a 90-gun ship-of-the-line, French, early 19th century
Activities
Conditions of Sale View
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Auction information

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Buyer's Premium Rates
27.5% on the first £20,000 of the hammer price;
26% of the hammer price of amounts in excess of £20,000 up to and including £700,000;
20% of the hammer price of amounts in excess of £700,000 up to and including £4,500,000;
and 14.5% of the hammer price of any amounts in excess of £4,500,000.

VAT at the current rate of 20% will be added to the Buyer's Premium and charges excluding Artists Resale Right.

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