"Ship Decoration 1630-1780" Topic

"This book is a detailed comparative study of the decorative work – figurehead, topside ornamentation and stern gallery design – carried by the ships of the major maritime states of Europe in the zenith of the sailing era. It covers both warships and the most prestigious merchant ships, the East Indiamen of the great chartered companies. The work began life in the year 2000 when the author was commissioned to carry out research for an ambitious project to build a full-size replica of a Swedish East Indiaman, which produced a corpus of information whose relevance stretched way beyond the immediate requirements of accurately decorating the replica. In tracking the artistic influences on European ship decoration, it became clear that this was essentially the story of the baroque style, its dissemination from France, and its gradual transformation into distinct national variations in Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. It is an inherently visual subject and the book illustrates developments with numerous photographs of contemporary ship models, paintings and plans, as well as the author's own interpretive illustrations of details. As the first major work on the topic for nearly a century, it will be of obvious appeal to ship modellers and historians, but with comparative examples drawn from architecture and sculpture, it also makes a broader contribution to the history of the applied arts."

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Review with pics inside the book
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Amicalement
Armand

Sadly – a very, very lost art now… Craftsmanship is extinct, for the most part.

You are right my friend.

Amicalement
Armand

Craftsmanship (and -womanship) is not extinct but it is expensive. There are some very good woodcarvers still around and restorative work in churches is evidence of the fact that the skills are rare but not dead yet.

Look to our own hobby and see the level of skill that is regularly displayed and then see that expanded to many different pastimes as well as real-life applications.

It is wrong to assume that superior craftsmanship was common in earlier times. Plenty of craftspersons around but only because there was no other way in which things got made.

Today a great result by one individual can be faithfully copied in many instances and that has reduced the perceived 'value' of craft work – down to the point where it cannot be made for what people are willing to pay.

Have the book. Interesting treatise but more for the Art Student or Ship Modeler. Describes the guilds of the day and the art and architectural influences that drove ship decoration for each country.

'Old Ships Figureheads and Sterns' is a more practical and useful guide despite its age.