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.
