19th Century Napoleonic Prisoner of War Game Set

An incredible and extremely rare artifact of world history, this mutton bone model of a guillotine was created during the Napoleonic wars by a French prisoner of war. Many of the inmates at the prisoner of war camps were skilled artisans long before they were soldiers, and because of the long duration of the conflict and cost of care, their captors encouraged detainees to use their skills to create objects to be sold at civilian open markets. Because of the intricacy of these fascinating objets d'art, very few of these models have survived the test of time. This masterpiece is impeccably detailed with soldiers and cannons lining the platforms. Adding to the rarity of this piece is that it has moving parts, as only a scant few model carvings were ever created with such mechanical accuracy. The soldiers have movable arms, while the guillotine features a movable "blade" for added authenticity. By many accounts, Napoleonic prisoners of war...

19th Century diorama of the sailing ship ‘Eleanor’ in original glazed case. Painted antique shadowbox diorama of a three-masthead clipper ship alo...

19th Century Presentation Half Hull Model of a Whale Ship, circa 1850, a large plank on frame model of a bluff-bowed and wide abeam whale ship. The model wa...

19th century whaler made carved and turned ebony stemmed cup. "Manila P.I." painted on one side. Manila, Philippine Islands would have been a port of call on ...

Rare 19th century Adirondak duck / sneak boat in old blue paint. Rare because these boats were made from solid wood and unless protected have all but rotted. It has a spectacular old...

Figurehead in carved oak depicting a female figure whose body has the shape of a siren, symbol of fertility and protection, with female features in the upper part and fish tail inste...

Large mahogany rudder with eight spokes with bronze hub. English manufacture of the end of the 19th century. Diameter 130 cm - inches 51.2, depth 15 cm - inches 5.9. There are evidences showing that already in the third millennium BC, in ancient Egypt, people used wooden oars...

This is a fine example of a French prisoner-of-war bone gaming piece, dating from the late 18th to early 19th century. These intricate objects were crafted by French prisoners during...

A Napoleonic era bone prisoner of war model of the 40-gun frigate ‘Creolian’, the three masted barque with a planked hull, finely detailed with a carved poop deck and a female figurehead, intricate black thread rigging and a black plaque stating in gilt, Creolian. In the original glazed wooden case with a painted background of a sunset over a bay with ships on the horizon. French, circa 1800. Provenance Ivan Roll Amis, d. 1 July 1970 Richard Henry Allen Amis, CBE, thence by descent During the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815), large numbers of French soldiers and marines were taken prisoner. To help pass the time and generate a small income, they would make a variety of objects—including ship models—from simple, easily-sourced materials such as bone and wood for sale at local markets. Typically, the models were not made to scale and tools were limited, making the quality and attention to detail in this work even more remarkable. To realise a good price at market, the models were often named after famous ships of the time. It may well be that this ship was the ‘Créole’, a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy. She served in the Brest squadron, took part in Ganteaume’s expeditions of 1801 to Egypt, and was involved in the French acquisition of Santo Domingo (also known as the Era de Francia) and briefly detained Toussaint Louverture...

A fine Diorama Folk Art Model ship in a bottle This skilfully made diorama of a three-mast early 19th century sailing ship at harbour with a raised landscape behind and cottages set...