HMS Victory
Royal Navy First Rate Ship-of-the-Line of 104 guns, built in 1765
Full-hull model built in 1991 to a scale of 16' = 1”
Glazed case of Indian satinwood
Model Dimensions: 19 1/2 " L x 8 3/4 " H x 7 1/2 " W”

In October 2005 the 200 th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar will be celebrated by six days of celebrations in Portsmouth and at St Paul 's Cathedral and Trafalgar Square in London . The symbol - not only of this victory but of a newly triumphant naval power and future empire – was Admiral Horatio Nelson's flagship HMS Victory. McNarry empahsizes this honor by depicting the great ship in stately “Dockyard” manner, indicative not only of her illustrious history but of the traditions of the British Admiralty, in which prospective new vessels would be modeled to show essential elements of the hull. Originally quite ornate, Victory 's figurehead and stern gallery structures were covered in carved wood decorations of mythical figures and complex scrollwork. McNarry enlarges on this visual artistry by contrasting the vertical patterning of exposed ribs with the perpendicular banding of the horizontal frieze, hull planks and gunport bands. At Trafalgar her main dimensions were: burden, 2,162 tons; length of gun deck 186 ft.; length of keel for tonnage 153.1 ft.; breadth 51.5 ft.; depth in hold, 21.5 ft.; complement 850 men. In 1824 she was anchored at Portsmouth , England as the stationary flagship of the local naval command and a permanent memorial to Nelson, who died aboard her. After 157 years of service, in 1922, she was placed in her present berth, restored to her configuration as at Trafalgar, and preserved as a museum ship.

Reference: Model Shipwright, Number 76, June 1991, pp. 13-16, D. McNarry FRSA.

Great Republic
American Clipper Ship of 1853
Waterline model built in 1970 to a scale of 32' = 1”
Glazed case of Indian satinwood
Model Dimensions: 19 ¼” L x 10 ½” H x 8 5/6 ” W

The largest extreme clipper ever built, the 4,555-ton Great Republic was 335', or longer than a football field. “To triumph over them all – to excel all his other works,” was the object Donald McKay had in view when he designed her, the largest merchant ship in the world. McNarry has emphasized the tremendous size of the famous “Leviathan” by the subtle implication of her diagonal placement within the rectangle of her case; as if no boundary were adequate to contain her. Her sleek, almost menacing black hull is softened by the light green of the shallow waters of Cape Cod - as she makes her way from Boston to New York - and by the light orange-yellow of the veneered baseboard. However, in a fascinating paradox, the ship's colossal sail configuration as depicted here never was employed, for after a fire at her berth in New York dest roy ed her prior to her maiden voyage to Liverpool she was substantially rebuilt and had a 25% reduction in rig.

Provenance: Model built in 1970; Private Collection, Switzerland

Reference: Ship Models in Miniature, D. McNarry, pp. 126-128; David & Charles, 1975

Lightning
American Clipper of 1854
Full-hull model built 1967 to a scale of 16' = 1”
Glazed case of figured English walnut
Model Dimensions: 25 3/8 ” L x 16 3/8 ” H x 11 1/8 ” W

Inspired by the remarkable D.M. Little painting of 1854 showing the great clipper swung to the tide off Port Philip Head, this remarkable full-hull model depicts the massive ship in perfect order yet clearly occupied by her passengers and crew and in service: she presents an air of activity serenely conducted. In the artist's characteristic use of irony and contrast, her overall sense of calm belies the great ship's speed records, reputation and name. Lightning was designed and built by Donald McKay at East Boston for James Baines & Co. of Liverpool, operators of the “Black Ball Line” of Australia passenger packets. She was launched January 3, 1854 , with measurements of 226' in hull length, 44' in beam, and 23' in draft; registered tonnage, 2,083. Lightning is best remembered for her remarkable run of 436 miles in 245 hours on her maiden passage, reputedly the fastest authenticated day's run ever made by a clipper ship.

Provenance: Model built in 1967; Private Collection, Switzerland

Reference: Ship Models in Miniature, D. McNarry, pp. 128,9; David & Charles, 1975

Nightingale
American Clipper Ship of 1851, built in Portsmouth , New Hampshire
Waterline model built 1973 to a scale of 32' = 1”
Glazed case of figured English walnut
Model Dimensions: 14 1/2” L x 7 7/8” H x 7 1/2” L

Named for the “Swedish Nightingale” Jenny Lind, is shown having just dropped her starboard anchor and is simultaneously sheeting home her three topsails. There is wonderful irony; the artist juxtaposes this mighty, state-of-the-art western merchantman, against a humble gaff rigged open boat which luckily just cleared her bow. Built in Portsmouth in 1851, the 185' Nightingale was constructed by Samuel Hanscom with the grandiose idea of conveying passengers to London for the Great Exhibition or “World's Fair,” but she cleared Boston on her maiden voyage for Melbourne in one of the first passages to transport miners to the newly discovered Australian gold fields. Sailing to Canton and Shanghai, she entered the lucrative tea trade to London. The solid wood hull is planked-over with holly shavings and shows some copper sheathing. The decks and deck houses are of wood all authentically painted, and it is fully rigged with copper wire or silk twisted to the correct diameter and painted black or natural coloration. The sea is carved from wood and then hand painted with artist oils. Glazed case if figured English walnut with hand engraved name plaques.

Provenance: Model built in 1973; Private Collection, USA, Model is featured in McNarry’s book: Ship Models in Miniature, Plate 37, and on page 113.

Port Jackson
Four-masted Iron Merchant Bark of 1882
Waterline model built in 1977 to a scale of 32' = 1”
Glazed case of figured English walnut
Model Dimensions: 16 1/2 ” L x 9 1/4 ” H x 7 1/2 ” W

In Port Jackson McNarry captures the awe-inspiring might and majesty of the four-masted iron-hulled sailing ships of the late nineteenth and early 20 th centuries. Unlike most of the genre, however, which presented a squared-off appearance with their masts of equal lengths, Port Jackson 's were of differing heights. The resulting visual composition of this vessel fascinated the artist, and, using this subtle difference in mast height from bow to stem, he creates here the delicate suggestion of an overall oval shape, formed as the eye traces the ship's outermost points and then follows an imaginary arc below the waterline. He alludes to Port Jackson 's later use as a cadet training vessel with a crisp, clean paint scheme of white and black and showing her false gunports. Port Jackson was 286' 2" in length, 41' 1” in breadth, 25' 2” in depth and weighed 2212 GRT; she was built in 1882 by A. Hall & Co., Aberdeen to the design of Alexander Duthie and intended as a wool clipper for the London to Sydney run. In 1906 she was sold to Devitt & Moore, London, who operated her from 1906-16 as a sea-going boys' cadet training ship. Several such “windjammers” are still extent and form part of museum collections and historic sites: Star of India is at San Diego ; Balclutha , San Francisco ; Wavertree , New York ; and Moshulu, at Philadelphia 's Penn's Landing.

Provenance: Model built in 1977; Private Collection, Switzerland

Reference: Model Shipwright, Number 80, June 1992, pp. 46-48, D. McNarry FRSA.

Red Jacket
Extreme Clipper Ship of 251', built 1853 in Rockland , Maine
Waterline model built 1977 to a scale of 32' = 1'
Glazed case of figured English walnut
Model Dimensions: 16 1/2 ” L x 8 3/4 ” H x 7 1/4 ” W

The drama and emotion of the glamorous life of the mid-to-late nineteenth century clipper ship are conveyed in this depiction of the famed Red Jacket , acknowledged to be the handsomest vessel in the British merchant service, and always a favorite with the traveling public. The 13 day, 1 hour, 25 minute time of her maiden voyage from New York to Liverpool in January, 1854 has never been beaten by any sailing ship. The artist creates here a palpable tension by contrasting the beauty and delicacy of the clipper's hull and the fragility of her softly tinted sails and fine rigging with the darkly menacing, frigid Cape Horn waters she sailed in her quest for ever-faster passages between Liverpool and Melbourne. The London News published some views of the famous trip, showing her entirely surrounded with field ice, and she reportedly encountered many icebergs, some 200 feet high and including one estimated at two miles in circumference.

Provenance: Model built in 1977; Private Collection, Switzerland

Reference: Ship Models in Miniature, Vol. II, D. McNarry, (in galley)

SS Sirius
British Paddle Steamer of 1837
Full-hull model built 1980 to a scale of 32' = 1”
Glazed case of avodire wood
Model Dimensions: 12” L x 8 1/4 ” H x 5 3/4 ” W

“First across the Atlantic under steam,” diminutive Sirius here is made to seem even tinier and more delicate as the artist reveals the humble beginning of the mighty new era of steam, as well as her position as its harbinger, by placing her within a slightly enlarged casing space. Characteristic of McNarry's use of contrast is this juxtaposition of the import of the enormous transition from sail to steam with the humility and simplicity of her size, name and stance. Paying homage to the great Scottish builders who orchestrated the Industrial Age with their steam engines, the artist focuses our attention on the perfection of symmetry and engineering of Sirius' machinery rather than on her rigging, indicating his belief that the new era will be one of order and beauty. The two covered boats suggest that steam is safe and passengers may trust in the new engines; the soft, yellowish base, with its gentle color differentiations - a gentle passage. Built for the St. George Steam Packet Company, the 208' wooden-hulled Sirius was intended for service between Cork and London . The British and American Steam Navigation Company chartered the steam powered coaster for a transatlantic run in an attempt to beat the much larger, purpose-built Great Western to New York . Under Lieutenant Richard Roberts, RN, Sirius left London on March 28, 1838 and, amid much expectation, arrived at New York on April 22 after a passage of 18 days, 10 hours.

Provenance: Model built in 1980; Private Collection, Switzerland

Reference: Ship Models in Miniature, Vol. II, D. McNarry, (in galley)

Sir Lancelot
British Clipper Ship of 1865
Waterline model built in 1970 to a scale of 16' = 1”
Glazed case of figured English walnut
Model Dimensions: 25 1/4 ” L x 15 1/8 ” H x 11 1/4 ” W

Inspired by Dunton's lithograph, published in 1867, of the hard-driven clipper under Richard Robinson's command, McNarry's Sir Lancelot tells the story of a glamorous genre: the China tea clipper, once a common sight along London 's Thames River . Their races to bring the first shipment of tea from the Far East and thus not only set the market price but also make rich their owners were the focus of worldwide attention and monetary speculation. Designed also to attract prominent travelers, the clippers provided opulent passenger accommodations: Sir Lancelot 's main deck cabin shows gilded sconces fitted up under its roof and other gilded trimwork as well as the heavy, ornate woodwork and scrolling typical of the Victorian era. Calm waters and the lushness of her graceful volume of sail also reflect Victorian principles of abundance and beauty, yet contrast with her urgent mission of speed. Such “composite” (steel framed and cross-banded and planked-over in wood on the interior) hulls as hers were a design and engineering feat, producing ships elegant in line for optimal speed, yet tremendously strong. One of the longer lived of the British clippers, Sir Lancelot was a near, if not exact, sister ship of the celebrated Ariel launched the year before. Built for James MacCunn of Glasgow , she served as a tea clipper until the 1880s, when she was bought by Viscount Ibrahim of India for trade between India and Mauritius .

Provenance: Model built in 1970; Private Collection, Switzerland

Reference: Ship Models in Miniature, D. McNarry, pp. 146,7; David & Charles, 1975