Ships, Folk Art, and Whimsey in Bottles

Beautiful model of an original diorama first made in 1900 and now housed in the navigation museum in Barcelona. This is a faithful reproduction made by an amateur craftsman in the 1960 - 70's in Sylt, Germany, a North Frisian Island in the North Sea. The model has 5 different ships docked on a pier or anchored in the sea in front of a quaint village. Each ship is highly detailed and unique with deck features such as cabins, ropes, masts, smoke stacks, and much more. A wooden pier runs angled in front of the entire village, The village has no less than 15 structures including a church, 2 story multiple hotel, or tavern type structure. Each building is different and shows many details including stone appearance, stairs, windows, doors, chimneys, and more. They are placed on different levels giving a strong impression of a village scene with roads, alleys, and the like. There is a sky painted on the outside of the bottle with large yellowish clouds giving the impression of an evening sky. Wonderfully represented. The unidentified bottle is sealed with a plastic screw top and rests on a large hemp rope glued to the bottom. There is a plaque on the rope which reads "Erstmals gebastelt um 1900. Zu sehen im Seefahrtsmuseum Barcelona." (in English) "For the first time built around 1900. Can be seen in the navigation museum at Barcelona." A picture of the original model can be found on page 80 in the book "Der perfekte Buddelschiffbauer" by Alan Villers.