August, 1919 
21 
models that are wonderful 
in detail and proportion. 
I have in my collection a 
model of the clipper ship 
“Haze” built in Mystic, 
Conn, in 1852 and lost in a 
gale off Cape Horn some 
years later. It was made by 
Captain Forsythe, master of 
the ship, and was a work of 
love, for every detail is fash¬ 
ioned in the most perfect 
and painstaking manner. It 
was the work of many 
months, and I like to think 
of the sturdy New England 
skipper passing away the 
tedious hours of long cruises 
in shaping its tiny parts, in 
the days when New York 
was ninety days from Java 
Head and one hundred and 
ten from Hong-Kong. 
Another model of mine is 
of the New Hampshire, an 
American ship of the line 
which was built by one of 
her crew. It is unusually 
accurate, and for m any 
years was hidden behind a 
lumber pile in a sail loft in 
Gloucester. 
Now and then one finds a 
model of a clipper ship 
whose sails bear the emblem 
of the Black Ball or Red 
Ball Packet Line, those fa¬ 
mous ships that did much in 
lowering maritime records 
between New York and Liv¬ 
erpool. 
In the early part of the 
19th Century it became a 
practice of many marine in¬ 
surance companies to re¬ 
quire a model of every ship 
which they insured. This 
accounts for many of the 
fine models of square riggers 
made in the years from 1800 
to 1825. These are fine ex¬ 
amples of ship - building 
architecture of the period. 
View of the stern transom of 
"La Brailleuse.” Built by 
Henry B. Culver. In the 
University of Illinois Museum 
of European Culture 
m 
■' • 
A quaint Dutch 
model from the 
Island of Maar- 
ken. Cady col¬ 
lection 
Type of English 
Armada ship, 
A.D. 1588. Built 
by Henry B. 
Culver 
m Jh 
the Decay of (he Art 
On the decline of the 
American Merchant Marine 
the custom of building mod¬ 
els fell into disuse and the 
little ships for the most part 
were neglected or stored 
away in attics, or given to 
children as playthings until 
eventually broken up. Sev¬ 
eral times I have found 
badly battered hulls with 
rigging and masts gone, be¬ 
yond repair yet showing 
lines and workmanship of 
great beauty. 
Occasionally however, a 
family revered the work of 
its grandsire and such a 
model will be carefully pre¬ 
served. One boat of my 
fleet is a singular little mod¬ 
el of a Maine Coaster. Dur¬ 
ing a summer holiday spent 
in one of the beautiful little 
seaport towns of Maine, 
with my friend John A. 
Williams the artist, our 
quarters were in the home of 
a family whose ancestors 
were sea captains. One af¬ 
ternoon the conversation 
drifted back to the days 
when # this little port was a 
flourishing ship building 
centre and its clipper ships 
renowned the world over. I 
asked our hostess if there 
were any models of these 
ships owned by townspeople 
and to my surprise she said 
“\\ hy I believe we have a 
model somewhere in this 
very house.” A hunt was 
inaugurated and after a long 
search the model came to 
light in a remote part of the 
attic. It didn't prove to be 
a clipper, but was a much 
earlier craft and bore the 
maker’s name and the date 
1791. Skillfully drawing 
(Continued on page 56) 
Stern view of an early 
American ship of the line, 
showing the transom com¬ 
parable to that on “La Brail¬ 
leuse.” The Cady collection 
The early American ship of the line was a boat with beautifully com¬ 
plicated rigging and carried four gun decks. This model, from the 
Harrison Cady collection, is a picturesque and reliable example 
“ : 
