the thermopylae built in 1868 aberdeen scotland by walter hood & co for the aberdeen white star line whose fleet was famously recognized by their glistening green hulls, white masts, and gold scrollwork. thermopylae was a legendary extreme composite clipper.she set an astonishing speed record of 63 days on her maiden voyage from gravesend on the river thames to hobsons bay Melbourne ... still the fastest trip ever recorded under sail. her sleek design allowed her to dominate the lucrative and highly competative tea races from china to london. She is best remembered for her fierce, legendary rivalry with the clipper Cutty Sark. In their famous 1872 showdown from Shanghai to London, Thermopylae emerged victorious when the Cutty Sark disastrously lost her rudder in a storm near the Cape of Good Hope. After her last tea passage, she carried wool home from Sydney until in 1890 she was sold to Canadian owners and used in the timber trade.her iconic green livery lasted throughout her time in the China tea trade and the Australian wool run, until on the 17th december 1895 thermopylae was sold to the portugese government and renamed pedro nunes with the intention of being used as a training ship. the conversion never happened and she ended up being used as a coal hulk. On 13 October 1907, she was towed out to the mouth of the Tagus at a Portuguese Navy League regatta attended by the Queen of Portugal, and sunk by Whitehead torpedoes.
this super ship in a bottle depicts thermopylae in full sail. the detailed green painted carved wooden hull features a white painted figurehead, deck houses, hatchways, two boats on derricks and a jolly boaton the galley roof. the wooden masts,yards and spars have been carefully carved and painted. the ship is dressed in a full suit of paper sails. the ship has been modelled sailing on a green painted putty sea and is followed by a small carved wood, white painted gaff rigged sailing boat., and is sailing past a painted putty headland with a lighthouse, three painted cottages and trees on the hill top.
the ship is housed in a clear glass [ export ] gordons gin bottle. the neck is capped off with a style of decorative sailor knotwork known as needle hitching. the ship in a bottle is displayed on a wooden stand with a hand painted name plate " thermopylae ."
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.
