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sailorscrafts

Victory 1759

Regular price
$25.00 USD
Regular price
Sale price
$25.00 USD

Dimensions: 

2 ⅜” x 1 ¼” x 1 ¼”

 

All ships are made by hand in Uruguay and enter through the neck of the bottle. If you’re curious about how they get in there, keep on reading!


Traditionally, ships in bottles were made using drawstrings that allowed a ship that was created outside of a bottle and flattened through the use of hinges to be re-erected once inside the bottle by pulling the strings. Our ships are created by hand using a technique that requires even more skill and precision. The model is first built and completely finished outside of the bottle. Then, each mast, including sails and all, is removed again. The hull is then inserted into the bottle, and each mast is individually added and glued into place. This technique makes it possible to reproduce fine details because pressure on the rig is minimal and more delicate materials can be used. It also allows the hull and superstructure to be larger because they are able to take up the entire diameter of the bottle neck (as opposed to the drawstring method where the entire ship has to fit through while folded).

Victory 1759:

HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, ordered in 1758, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is best known for her role as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.

She additionally served as Keppel's flagship at Ushant, Howe's flagship at Cape Spartel and Jervis's flagship at Cape St Vincent. After 1824, she was relegated to the role of harbour ship.

In 1922, she was moved to a dry dock at Portsmouth, England, and preserved as a museum ship. She has been the flagship of the First Sea Lord since October 2012 and is the world's oldest naval ship still in commission, with 243 years' service as of 2021.


The oldest existing ships in bottles were made around 1760. These are intricate professional pieces. Apparently, they were made by commercial workshops specializing in the construction of ship models to serve as gifts for kings, admirals, and other important people.


Dating back to 1850, ships in bottles were constructed by sailors on board the tall ships. At this time beverage bottles were made from clear glass and became available to the public. After a sailor had finished his favorite drink, possibly on a wide, calm sea, the empty bottle in front of him served as inspiration. Since the tools and materials available on board the ship were limited, the first examples of maritime craft are of a rather crude and simple design. These old models, however, exude a special and unique charm in spite, or perhaps because of, their simplicity.


Often the sailors chose to copy their own ship, and if in a harbor, the scene around them may have been placed in the background. In this way, these models became sources of contemporary history. Nowadays, most of the ships in bottles are put together on land. There are clubs and fairs where ideas and new construction techniques are shared.