I photoed this craft in the Christchurch Museum in New Zealand the ship is 1ft long and is made of Whalebone- I was amazed at the work and though I would show my friends at Armorama

It's very possible that this is one of the models (which turn up frequently) which were made by French prisoners of war in the early 19th century. I've seen a considerable number of them in museums here in Europe, although one in NZ is certainly different. The materials used were many and varied - principally bone... Thanks for sharing...Jim

Those POW models are excellent, especially when you consider the conditions they were built under, the materials used, and no after market, references or kit reviews., They were usually models of the prisoners ship, done from memory.
Newport News, VA had a excellent collection the last time I was there.

As a side note, when I was a small kid and saw my first one, and read it was made from bones, I thought they used the other prisoner bones, and was afraid to go near them, until I got a little older. :-) :-) :-)

Man, that is awesome. Have we got it easy now :-) :-) :-)

I have seen tons of large sailing ship models at both the Imperial War Museum in London and Smithsonian Mueseum of American History, don't know what (material)or when(built), all I know is I can't do it and when I win the lotto............I 'm gonna buy a bunch of them