National Museums Liverpool Blog - ship models

Often as a conservator, there are not many opportunities to engage with the public. Working in studios undertaking practical conservation work can leave little time for interaction with those who enjoy and visit the collections. So when I was given the opportunity to do a demonstration of ship model conservation at the Lady Lever Art Gallery I was eager to accept.

The Gallery is part of National Museums Liverpool, and houses a collection of fine and decorative art. The Lady Lever Art Gallery was founded by William Hesketh Lever, and contains the best of his personal art collection. As part of the education programme, the gallery runs demonstrations of various art related topics, and so I did an afternoon of ship model conservation in one of the galleries.

I chose a model in great need of conservation work, which would also be an interesting example. The wooden model depicts an 18th Century ship of war with 38 guns and fully rigged. Its many areas of deterioration included broken masts, tangled rigging, and lead disease. The model was very dirty and so I set up a table so that I could do cleaning whilst on the gallery.

Whilst it was fairly quiet, the people whom I spoke to were very interested in the conservation and it was great to be able to tell them what we do in Ship and Historic Model Conservation. Many visitors who approached me had not seen the demonstration advertised, and were simply curious as to what I was doing. Equally the visitors were interested in the type of ship the model depicted, and as I had researched this well, was able to explain the historical context which then informs the conservation process. Many were fascinated as to how I would be able to repair the complicated rigging, which requires extensive knowledge of ships rigging.

I thoroughly enjoyed talking to the public about the work we do in the Conservation Centre, as well as being able to share my enthusiasm for maritime history. I found that people were very interested in conservation and many had not heard of the profession previously. And not uncommon for conservators, the popular phrase of the day was “you must have a lot of patience”. 

A divine Clarice Cliff 'tea for two' set from Age of Jazz.

It's an eclectic selection and there are some great books, my personal favourites being 'When Time Began to Rant and Rage...' which is a fab book of Irish figurative work and totally worth a fiver,  Age of Jazz: British Arts Deco Ceramics as I'm a sucker for a deco teaset, and British Watercolours and Drawings from the Lady Lever's collection.

If you've still not got a John Moores catalogue then now is the time to buy one as they're reduced to £7.50. And if you buy it from the Walker shop you get the John Moores China version for free.

The Merseyside Maritime Museum has a fantastic ship models collection from the grand Titanic/Olympic/Britannic builder’s model to the delightful ships in bottles, which always continue to fascinate me.

Whilst researching the early models, I came across the Leader which has a very impressive history as being one of the first ship models to be acquired into the museum’s collection in 1862. The model was made by Captain W. Hudson who was the Leader’s first master.

The Leader was a Liverpool Pilot boat who were employed to assist incoming and outward bound vessels to the Port of Liverpool, helping ships navigate through the powerful tides and challenging sandbanks. The pilot boat provided excellent knowledge of these conditions and also the complex dock system. 

The Liverpool Pilots were widely recognised for their sailing abilities. On 8th February 1881 the Leader led a fleet of twelve vessels safely over the Bar at the entrance to the River Mersey, through very challenging conditions. This incident was widely admired and the Leader continued in service until 1896.

The largest object in the museum’s collection is the Edmund Gardner Pilot Ship. Tours of the Edmund Gardner are still running every Thursday and Saturday until the end of September, to book a place ring 0151 478 4788.

On the second floor in the Art and the Sea gallery, just outside the Titanic & Liverpool: the untold story exhibition is the White Star Line model display featuring models from the Merseyside Maritime Museum collection.

Bye for now.

Ship model before and after treatment

You may remember in my last post that I had taken a model in great need of conservation to the Lady Lever Art Gallery for demonstration purposes. The model had several snapped yards and masts, and missing blocks. Many people remarked on the blackness of the thick dirt, and how complicated the broken and twisted rigging was, and were interested to know how I would go about treating the model. As the treatment of the model has now been completed, I would like to share some of the treatment processes.

The first challenge was to carefully clean the model. This was more difficult than usual as the model had many small crevices and great care had to be taken to avoid the already damaged rigging. This was undertaken using small cotton wool swabs. Once the model was cleaned to an appropriate level I could then begin the very difficult process of untangling the threads of the rigging, and working out where each broken or missing rope needed to go. Fortunately I have learnt the arrangements and purposes of rigging and so it was not as complicated as it first appeared. Once the spars and yard arms had been re-joined (using wood pins and adhesive), the rigging could be repaired.  Where possible, I saved the original thread, attaching it to new cotton thread at the breakages. In some areas the threads were too friable and needed to be replaced.

The silk flag also required conservation and so was removed. It was very stiff and bent, so I decided to re-humidify it using a sandwich of damp bloating paper, gortex, the flag, and then the same arrangement on the other side. This flattened the flag well. It was still very dirty and so after testing; I cleaned it by soaking in a solution of 5% tri-ammonium citrate (a chelating agent) in water. The silk itself was fragile, and to ensure that it was strong enough to place back onto the model I mounted it onto dyed silk crepeline.

The last problem to address on the model was the lead disease of the fittings on the baseboard. This was crumbling white corrosion product that I removed mechanically under a microscope, before coating with a protective coating. After making replica blocks for the anchor and reattaching the flag to the flag staff, the model was complete and now looks like an impressive ship of war. 

See a larger version of the image above on Flickr to see more detail.

Gemma Thorns

Update: 20/02/2012: See more photos of the model on our Flickr set of before and after conservation. 

Image National Museums Liverpool

I used to enjoy going for a row on the park lake but now such an experience is difficult to come by.

There are no rowing boats left on Liverpool’s lakes, which is a great shame. No longer do you hear the iconic cry: “Come in number 12!” when your half hour is up.

Many marine paintings feature them but they are often overlooked – the humble rowing boat has always been a key part of maritime life.

Merseyside Maritime Museum’s Art & The Sea gallery features many models and pictures with all types of oar-driven boats from lifeboats to the working boats of the Mersey.

The painting Elinor Chapman off Liverpool by Joseph Heard (1799 – 1859) features a device often used by the artist – he tilts the vessel slightly to show what is happening on deck.

Heard gives the same treatment to a passing small boat that scurrying past under sail. The oars can be seen stowed ready for use when they approach the quayside.

Eight men in a rowing boat are included in 28 Gun Ship in the Mersey by John Jenkinson (pictured). Six of them pause with their oars out of the water as the warship passes.

This painting dates from around the time of the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) and shows a frigate – the type of vessel used in patrol and defence work. Horatio Nelson defeated the Spanish and French fleets in the battle. As a result peace reigned and the Royal Navy dominated the seas for the next century.

The victory was an important factor in the growth and prosperity of Liverpool and other ports because British merchant ships could travel the seas largely without fear of attack.

At least six rowing boats can be seen in a beautifully-detailed painting called The Brig St Lucia in the Mersey by Robert Salmon. They carry between three and six people.

The painting was commissioned by Hugh Owen, captain of the St Lucia 1821 – 1823. St Lucia was built in Liverpool in 1818 for the Caribbean trade in sugar and other tropical goods.

The museum’s ship models depict lifeboats in various levels of detail. These include the Empress Queen, my own favourite of all the models on display.

The Haverford is one of the few that includes the oars in the lifeboats – 18 are depicted in this tour de force of the model-makers craft.

Some, including the original Titanic builder’s model, have the lifeboats covered with tarpaulins.

Three rowing boats were constructed in amazing detail in the Pilkington Collection of French Prisoner-of-War Models, outstanding treasures of the museum. One depicts a large boat with seating for about 20 rowers.

This is a version of my Maritime Tale that originally appeared in the Liverpool Echo.

The conservation of the Chinese junk from Swatow is now complete. Being such an interesting project, I will briefly share the treatment processes which have transformed a dirty, unstable model, back to its original beauty.

Firstly the hull and wooden components required cleaning. The model was vacuumed to remove any loose dirt on the deck and inside the bulkheads. After testing to find the safest, and most effective cleaning materials, the hull was cleaning using detergent in deionised water, which made a huge difference to the models appearance, as the shine of the wood oil can now be appreciated. The painted surfaces on the model were carefully cleaned using saliva, which is a surprisingly effective cleaning material.

The sails were the most complicated area of the model to treat. The materials being so fragile, and already greatly damaged meant that careful consideration needed to be taken to make sure they were strong enough to be put back onto the masts. So after much thinking, testing, and asking for advice, the treatment was as follows:

The sails were vacuumed, using a Museum vac (small specialist vacuum for museum objects), and a small paint brush to carefully dislodge the dirt away from the surface. I decided to only use dry cleaning methods, as water could cause the plant materials to swell. Erasers are a good way to remove dirt from paper like materials, but it would have been dangerous to the caning to rub the surface. Therefore I used a scalpel to slice up the end of an eraser to make a flexible brush, which was much gentler on the sails surface and removed the dirt well.

Then for the repairs. Japanese paper, roughly the same thickness of the plant material, was painted using acrylic paint to match the colour of the sails. This was then adhered to the edges of the breaks using wheat starch paste. To replicate the missing caning, strips of the Japanese paper were cut and painted to match. These were then attached to the original and woven in the same way on both sides, an extremely tricky job! These repairs not only improved the sails visually, but strengthened them enough to be put back onto the model. Once the rigging was repaired, the treatment was completed and the junk can once again be appreciated as a fascinating ship model.

Ship models have been made for centuries, representing changes in style and function of ships and boats, all around the world, making them such interesting objects! My current project in ship and historic model conservation illustrates this point well, as it is a model of a Chinese junk. A “junk” is a ship from China, and as you can see they are most unlike the European ships we are used to seeing. This project represents a challenge as the historical context of objects is an important consideration when conserving objects, and I had no knowledge about junks prior to starting the project.

 Firstly some interesting information I found out about junks of this particular type. The style and shape of the junk shows that it is a vessel from Swatow in the south of China. It is unknown when the model was made, as junks remained mostly unchanged throughout the centuries. Whilst they may look crude in comparison to their European counter parts, Chinese junks were perfected for their purpose and therefore did not need modification. Most junks were highly decorated, painted with pictures and symbols. A common decoration can be seen on the model, of eyes either side of the hull, called the oculus. This can differentiate between types of junk, as when the eyeball is set low in the white of the eye it suggests a fishing vessel, and when looking straight ahead a trading vessel, to see distant peril.

At first glance I thought that the crusty substance between the wooden planks was some sort of build-up of dirt, but after research I realised that this represented caulking;  which is where the Chinese mix lime , hemp and wood oil (known as chunam), and use this mixture to fill the gaps between the planks to prevent any water getting in. Wood identification revealed that the hull of the model was made from a type of native pine, and the masts from a hard wood. The wood is coated with t’ung oil, which is a hard yellow wood oil which was used to make the real life junks waterproof.

Another special characteristic of junks is the sails. What makes them unusual is the battens of bamboo which run horizontally along the sail cloth, usually mat. These battens keep the keep the sail flat, and give the sail great strength. The model of junk that I’m working on has very rare sails made from plant material and caning with rattan, unlike any other junks in the collection. Unfortunately these sails are in very poor condition, with holes and breakages that mean they are too fragile to be hung from the masts on the model. Therefore they present quite a challenge to conserve them successfully.

To be continued…

My name is Gemma and I am a conservation intern at the National Museums Liverpool. I am here on a year long internship in Ship and Historic Model Conservation, funded by ICON (Institute of Conservation) and the Heritage Lottery Fund. As I am now nearly half way through my internship, I have had many interesting and exciting projects to work on which I would like to share, so I will put regular updates on the blog.

Unsurprisingly, model conservation is a very specialist branch of conservation and so far I have learnt many new conservation treatments and crafts skills to conserve and repair models, as well as getting the chance to make some of my own boat models. Historic models, far from being similar objects, can be made from a huge range of materials, which makes each project fascinating and exciting to uncover the models history!

One of my recent projects was the conservation of a ship model of a fishing boat from Rye, the “Water Lily” (Accession number: L1963.17.4). It is a beautifully made model, complete with a planked deck, fittings, fully rigged and with silk sails.  It was in relatively good condition, but it was a little dirty and some of the green paint on the hull had flaked off. I began the treatment by vacuuming the surface using a Museum vac over mesh; gently brushing the sails to dislodge dirt. To remove the dried on dirt a small amount of detergent in deionised water was effective, applied with a cotton wool swab. I decided not to wet clean the sails, as this can have repercussions with shrinkage etc, so I used a smoke sponge (vulcanized natural rubber) to gently lift the dirt off the surface. Then all that was left to do was retouch the losses in paint using acrylic paint, which can be easily detectable and removed.

The model is not required for display at the moment, but it has been carefully wrapped to be placed back into storage, where it will remain clean and happy for many years to come.