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Names

Ship model collection

IDs

VC000033

http://emuseum.anmm.gov.au/code/emuseum.asp

Descriptions

A collection of over 200 professionally or recreationally built ship and boat models crafted between 1800 and 2011. The collection includes builders models, ships in bottles, travel agent and shipping company models, votive and ceremonial models, pier head and sailor made models, panoramic and working models.

People are fascinated by things on a miniature scale. Model makers use a high degree of skill to shrink large complex objects, making them accessible at a glance. Planes, trains and automobiles, bridges and buildings have all been miniaturised, but when we think of models, we usually think of ships. They range from perfect, precision-made working models to the simplicity of toys where the child's imagination brings them to life. The practise of building scale models of ships and other maritime objects can be traced back at least three thousand years to the votive offerings manufactured by the Egyptians. However it was not until the latter half of the 16th century that reasonable accurate scale models of vessels were being constructed and used as three dimensional plans by shipwrights. Marine model making has continued on to the present day with models being made for a variety of reasons including - ceremonial, presentation, advertising, ship design, decoration, archaeological reconstruction, leisure and educational. All these types of models using a variety of different construction techniques including carved from solid, plank on frame, bread and butter, skeleton and fibreglass are represented in the ship model collection.

Some material included in this collection may be subject to copyright

By appointment only, please contact ANMM

Parts of this collection are digitised and available on the ANMM web site www.anmm.gov.au

Subjects

1800-2010; Model-making; Models (representations)

Models

Coverage Temporal

1800

2010

Related Collections

Dates

2012-05-30 23:40