The Maritime Museum’s collections are extremely rich and varied. They include pieces ranging from a ship that still sails to a postal stamp, or from a steam engine to a 14th-century manuscript. Of course, they also include everything you expect to find in a maritime museum: binnacles, anchors, model ships, navigational tools, etc. In other words, all sorts of documents and objects from the miniscule to the huge, from all different periods and made of all sorts of materials. For decades, the Museum has gathered examples of the maritime past, a heritage that reminds us of the lives of seafarers, the histories of ships and maritime activities in peacetime or war.
We would like to offer a selection of objects and documents that are notable for their historical interest, their rarity or their aesthetic value. These can give you a general idea of the content of the Museum’s collection. However, do not forget that there is a great deal beyond this selection, with thousands of artefacts and documents that you can discover using our search engine or other resources.
We encourage you to take a stroll through some of the key pieces in our Museum’s collection, grouped into twelve categories to help you keep your bearings.
French model 118-gun, three-decker ship
Model shipsModel prison ship or hulk, made of ivory and ebony probably at the end of the 18th century, a period of great wars between France and Great Britain when hundreds were made. Thousands of French seamen ended up as prisoners in ships that did not sail, but were used as floating prisons. As a distraction or to win some money, some built models using waste materials like animal and fish bones or leftover wood, with human hair for the rigging. Other model-makers copied this technique, using more noble materials like ebony, tortoiseshell or ivory. In this model, placed on a pedestal, the figurehead is of a soldier with a red helmet.
