an early 20th century model of a four masted fully rigged sailing vessel passing a small harbour village, set inside a clear glass bottle. the base of the bottle is embossed with distillers name... " walkers " whisky, kilmarmock. the harbour village consists of a twin funneled passenger vessel moored to the harbour wall, four tiers of terraced cottages,some of which are painted white, the second tier has a clock tower that reads 3o'clock positioned centrally in the terrace, the third tier has a centrally positioned church with a spire, the fourth tier consists of 2 cottages with 3 trees positioned on the far left. the four masted ship has a carved wooden hull painted in what was known as the chequer board aesthetic, a visual illusion that merchant sailing ships adopted in the 19th century. by painting faux square gun ports on their hulls, merchantmen sought to bluff passing pirates and privateers into believing the ship was heavily armed. as the century progressed the threat from piracy wained. some ship owners retained the scheme as a status symbol, In the highly competitive 19th-century cargo trade (including the lucrative tea and wool trades), a sharply painted, well-maintained chequer pattern signaled that a ship belonged to a wealthy, prestigious shipping line and was likely very fast. the ship has four carved wooden masts with carved yards and spars and cotton thread rigging the ship is flying the merchant navy red ensign. the ship is sailing on a blue painted clay/putty sea and is being escorted by a small wooden carved steam tug with faux cotton wool smoke billowing from its funnel.
the bottle is 260mm long x 70mm square..
the ship in bottle does not come with a stand.
the ship in bottle as folkart is probably, unfairly the greatest cliche of maritime folkart and as such is often overlooked. the amount of skill , artistry and maritime knowledge can not be underestimated in each creation. sculpting ships in bottles became fashionable in the 19th century ,helped by the introduction of mass produced clear glass bottles, an explosion in maritime trade and the desire to bring home a token , souvenir of travel on the high seas. the genuine sailor art form continued into the early 20th century when finally it fell out of fashion with mariners. an original sailor made ship in bottle served as a poignant reminder of the magnificence of both – the vessels and the maritime domain. the ship in bottle was often given as a token of love or endearment. it would have held pride of place in a loved ones home. ships in bottles in their heyday were solely the creations of sailors. to own a ship in a bottle would portray to the onlooker that the custodian was associated with an adventurer, a world explorer who would ride the tempest and all that neptune and his sirens could conjure, to get safely back to his love. it would also serve as a message in a bottle to any of the artists maritime peers that when it came to the sea and who ever may sail , that he really knew what he was talking about.
