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identity of the first sailor to build a miniature
ship in a bottle is of course unknown. Most of the extant old examples of the
art‑form date from the early decades of the nineteenth century, paralleling the
change from dark, opaque glass bottles to clear ones. Among the earliest
known, however, is a ship in a bottle built and signed by an Italian Gioni Biondo, in 1774.
Interestingly, he was not a sailor.
The origin of ships in bottles may well be the so‑called “patience bottles,” in which religious scenes (often the Crucifixion) were depicted. They were known as early as the end of the sixteenth century, and a handful of rare examples, dating from 1744, can be found in museums and private collections.
Another variant were known as “mining bottles”, in which tableaux depicting gold mining and smelting operations were built to scale inside bottles. There is one surviving example, dating to 1719, and attributed to a Matthias Buchinger.
During the early years of the nineteenth century the technique of putting ships into bottles became well known to mariners of the major seafaring nations.
The key to this intriguing art form is to keep the ship narrow enough to pass easily through the bottle's neck. Once inside, a variety of tools are used to position it and add finishing touches.
Ship-in-bottle associations now exist worldwide. The hobby is popular in Japan, but with a twist – traditionally ships in bottles sail towards the neck of the bottle; in Japan they are constructed in the opposite direction, sailing towards the bottom of the bottle.
The example above is the Prince de Neufchatel, built by Dave Conrad. The model is armed with sixteen 18‑pound carronades and two six‑pounder cannon.
Photo reproduced with kind permission of Dave Conrad Bottleship Magazine .
Find out more...
Liverpool Museum The Dashwood‑Howard Collection of ships in bottles