PROBABLY DIEPPE, 19TH CENTURY

Details

A FULLY RIGGED MINIATURE MODEL OF A THREE-MASTED VESSEL
PROBABLY DIEPPE, 19TH CENTURY
Finely detailed with rigging, openworked deck, figurehead and brass canons; some old repairs and some losses to the extremities
31 cm. high x 32 cm. long x 11 cm. wide

Special notice

Christie’s charges a premium to the buyer on the Hammer Price of each lot sold at the following rates: 29.75% of the Hammer Price of each lot up to and including €20,000, plus 23.8% of the Hammer Price between €20,001 and €800.000, plus 14.28% of any amount in excess of €800.000. Buyer’s premium is calculated on the basis of each lot individually.

Lot Essay

The production of Ivory ship models in Dieppe started with the comission of Le Ville de Dieppe by the Dieppe Chamber of Commerce presented to the Emperor Napoleon on his visit to Dieppe on the 27th and 28th of May 1810. This spectacular ship model by Louis Charles Vincent Belleteste with full set of sails and rigging all executed in ivory was of relatively small dimensions 38 x 11 x 38 cm.; Ivory ships models from Dieppe can be as large as 60 cm. The presentation of the Ville de Dieppe set a trend for notable persons passing through Dieppe to comission such a vessel. After the Napoleonic wars had ended Dieppe was also much visited by the English, who in turn returned home with Ivory souvenirs from Dieppe.
Cf. P. Ickowicz, 'Dieppe et l'Ivoire' in P. Malgouyres, Ivoires du musée du Louvre, Paris, 2005, pp. 13-15.

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