Fighting vessel

Scale: Possibly 1:48. A model of a fighting galley (possibly 1770), possibly Russian, made entirely in wood which is unpainted apart from the wale, which is painted black. It has two lateen masts with set sails. The hull is made plank-on-frame with a broad black wale, a wide shallow stem post, and a decorative bow with a carved cat head figurehead and trailboards decorated with serpents. At the head of the long flat foredeck is a decorative animal resembling a ferret or weasel. A raised deck at the bow has decoratively carved rails and six circular roundels forward. The raised deck accommodates the foremast and its standing rigging. The foremast is mounted on a splayed support with a semi-circular aperture. The mainmast is positioned amidships, its lateen yard being slightly taller than that on the foremast. Main deck fittings include seats on port and starboard for oarsmen with raised frames accommodating the thole pins, 49 identical oars, three gratings inline along the centre of the deck, and a domed cover that can be removed to provide access to a single gun on a wooden slide carriage facing forward. The poop deck is accessed by a horseshoe companion way. The poop has a rounded awning frame in wood at the rear of which is a carving of what appears to be a double headed eagle. The stern cabin has round topped windows at the port and starboard stern quarters and an open gallery. The rails of the roof of the cabin extend sternward terminating almost to a point enclosing the long curved tiller arm. The rudder is set at an angle of about 70 degrees. The model is mounted on a black lacquered pair of crutches connected by a horizontal slat.

Original size: 863 mm x 1141 mm x 243 mm