Navy Board Ship Models

From about the middle of the seventeenth century, the Navy's administrators began to commission models of their ships that were accurately detailed and, for the first time, systematically to scale. These developed a recognized style, which included features like the unplanked lower hull with a simplified pattern of framing that emphasized the shape of the underwater body. Exquisitely crafted, these were always rare and highly prized objects - indeed, Samuel Pepys expressed a profound desire...