Full-Hull Display Models

Comments

Glasgow Museums has a collection of full-hull display models as part of the ship model collection. The best of these 337 models, ranging in date from the early nineteenth to the early twenty-first century, represent some of the finest expressions of art in industry. Shipbuilders and shipowners on the Clyde wanted to showcase their ships and, in the absence of the real vessel, used models to convey their refinement, might or luxury in miniature. Models were displayed in boardrooms, shipping offices or in one of the many industrial exhibitions held from 1851. Full-hull models are made from laminated layers of wood, cut and shaped to the exact form of the full-sized ship and then completed with superstructure, paint, varnish and a wide variety of metal and wooden model fittings. Some are simple, with wooden blocks for deckhouses and basic masts and funnels, others are extraordinarily detailed with glass portholes, internal detailing and full rigging. Full-hull ship models were made by shipyard modelmakers or by commercial modelmaking firms. Great pride was taken in building attractive models and many shipbuilders and shipping companies kept models of their best-known vessels on display long after the real ship had been lost at sea, or broken up. As maritime trade on the Clyde declined, many of their collections were gifted to, or bought by, Glasgow Museums and now form an internationally important record of shipbuilding on the River Clyde.

Broader term

Ship Models

Staff Contact

Emily Malcolm