A model ship carved from whalebone by a French prisoner during the Napoleonic Wars and a replica of a “cursed” vessel have gone on display at a Leeds museum.
The maritime miniatures were uncovered while staff at Leeds Industrial Museum were assessing and cleaning their collection of historic model ships.
They are now on display as part of Engineery, an exhibition about the history of engineering and inventors.
Leeds Museums and Galleries’ curator of industrial history John McGoldrick said the art of model ship making was as “old as shipbuilding itself”.
He said: “Each of the model ships in our collection has been made at a unique and very different moment in history, but what unites them is the ingenuity and attention to detail, which has gone into capturing each minute feature.
“That level of dedication and commitment speaks volumes about how impressive these ships were and how much they inspired and motivated each model maker to reach such incredible feats of creativity.”
The model whalebone ship carved more than 200 years ago is a replica of a 19th Century whaling ship.
It is believed to be an example of the type carved by French captives in British prisons and aboard ships during the Napoleonic Wars.
Using leftover bone, the prisoners were also known to employ hair, clothing and jewellery in a model, which normally took a prisoner years to complete.
Other ships in the museum collection include wool clipper Cromdale, built in Glasgow in 1891.
After narrowly escaping disaster on her maiden voyage when she was hit by 300ft high icebergs, she later ran aground in thick fog, ploughing into cliffs off the coast of Cornwall, where the wreck is visible today.
Several members of the crew died, including one who was reportedly eaten by a shark in Montevideo Bay.
Also part of the collection is a scale replica of the RMS Queen Elizabeth.
More than a 1.5m long, the model is a tribute to the much larger original cruise liner, which was once the biggest passenger ship ever built.
