English French German Italian Portuguese Russian Spanish
Print
Bottle 502 - Le Renard
Date Added: 22 December 2006

This is a model of the 1812 "Le Renard" the last vessel of privateer Robert Surcouf, built in a bottle. This ship has only one mast which carries a topsail and parrot, gréant, fore-and-aft mainsail, jibs and trinquette. The cutter is built as a whole hull example. The hull is white below the waterline and it is yellow above. The deck is detailed with the features found on the actual Le Renard." It has 10 carronades and 4 canons. A life boat is suspended from davits and hangs over the stern. A French flag flies form the flagpole atop the main mast. The ships is displayed mounted on a wooden pedestal and the ship's anchor is suspended with rigging. The rigging is an accurate portrayal of the original rigging and has both standing and running rigging with shrouds and ratlines. The artist, Henny Fransen provide the additional information: "During one of our vacations in France, my wife and I visited St. Malo. In the port, just outside the city walls, the Le Renard was moored. Le Renard is a replica of a pirates' cutter, of which there must have been many back in the 19th century, when St. Malo was a pirates nest. In Renards office I bought a drawing of the hull and the rigging. Outside I took pictures of the deck details. I scanned the drawing and sized down the measurements to the size I needed to build this ship in bottle. When the hull was completed, I wasn’t satisfied because the poop was too high and too tight. I finished the model (yard number 40), but meanwhile I started with a second hull. The second model (yard number 42) was far more satisfying than the first one. The braces are running from the nail bank on deck, through the tip of the bowsprit to the tip of the yards. There I mounted small copper rings that are fitted in the tips. From there the braces went through the neck of the decanter. After the cutter was fitted on its stand, the rigging was tuned, glued and the loose ends cut. It took about 47 hours from scratch to complete model."
Type: Cutter   Maker's Name: Fransen, Henny
Category: Sailing Ships   Made Where: Hoorn, Holland
Bottle Size:   Year Made: 2002
Bottle Type: Decanter  

BACK