Bone Models

Napoleonic bone models were made by French prisoners-of war during the Napoleonic Wars, circa 1802-1815. Amazingly enough, these men were incarcerated under terrible conditions in British prisons but continued with their creative endeavors in spite of the circumstances. Many of these men were impressed into the French Navy and had creative backgrounds, not military ones. They showed their incredible expertise in these intricate and beautifully accurate, and detailed models.

These men made use of their rations of beef bones and, later during their incarceration, they were allowed to trade items they had made at small fairs located on the prison grounds. These fairs afforded them the opportunity to obtain threads for rigging, metal pieces for cannons and guns, paints for flags, brass for anchors, small pieces of metal for “pinning” the side pieces to the underbody, baleen or ebony for side panels and, perhaps better tools for their fine carvings. They only used soup bone materials, not ivory.  In Dieppe, one finds outstanding ships models made of ivory where the workmanship was extraordinary but also much more of a commercial endeavor, not one taken on by men with a lot of time on their hands who needed to find a creative way to utilize this time more than trying to make money.  They were merely political prisoners not criminals so they were treated somewhat better than expected. Even after the wars were finished, many of these talented artists stayed in England and continued their craft where it was appreciated.

Bone models vary in size- some are miniature and fit in designed straw work cases, which are also elaborately designed with decorated patterns and glass sides. Others can be three feet wide and must have taken years to complete. The details, number of gun ports, lower deck configurations, figureheads, lifeboats, exacting dimensions were all painstakingly precise and accurate because these men knew their ships and were capable of creating exact models of them.  Most were these sailors’ very ships and their names were noted on small bone pieces. They ranged from those with one deck and a few cannons to warships sporting triple decks which are showing a hundred and more cannons peeking out from side, stern and prow gun ports. There are those with British flags and those with French. Many include wonderful detailed and inlaid bases with patterned sides and tops of alternating woods and various intricate designs.

These exquisite models are true works of art done by exceptional artists who continued to create despite their working conditions.