International Herald Tribune

Please read below the article wrote by Heidi Ellison with the photo of the figurehead of the Royal Dockyard model Charlotte :

" Choosing just one of the dozens and dozens of fascinating objects displayed by the Galerie Dominique et Eric Delalande, specialists in naval and tobacco-related objects since 1978, is a difficult task. Would it be the beautiful little pocket globe (1756) in its round leather carrying case, one of only two known to have been made in France (the other is in the Louvre) ? The intricately carved 18th-century Italian écume de mer (magnesite) pipe ? The rare Breguet chronometer dating from 1802 ?

The winner is an extremely rare museum-quality model ship that is exceptional for its historic interest. The 60-cannon frigate Charlotte was commissionned by Louis XVIII to help rebuild the French fleet after the Napoleonic wars, and the model was presented to his successor, Charles X, in 1824 by the Marquis de Clermont-Tonnerre, minister of the navy and the colonies, but was never actually built. This very rare modèle d'arsenal, which normally would have been given to the national archives of the Musée de la Marine, remained instead in the hands of the minister and his wife, Charlotte, from whom the frigate was named".

Also discover our antique ship models available at the moment.