The H.M.S. BURFORD model has returned to the Collections Research Center after a stint on exhibit. British
Naval historian William Laird Clowes once called it one of the finest models of
its type ever built. The model at Mystic Seaport was acquired
in 1973 and has been one of the premier objects in the collection ever since.
H.M.S. BURFORD was a 70-gun, 3rd rate ship of the British Navy built
in 1722. One of her commanding officers was Admiral Edmund Vernon, after whom
Mt. Vernon is named. While there is some question as to the date the model was
built, it was certainly done in the first half of the 18th century,
if not in 1722. It came into Admiral Vernon’s possession and stayed in his
family until it was purchased at auction in London in 1929 by Junius Morgan,
grandson of J.P. Morgan.
The
magnificent model has a white bottom, varnish topsides and a black boot stripe.
She has 4 anchors and 68 gun positions with two full gun decks, a square bow,
lateen mizzen, and a two-level poop deck. There is a lion's head painted on the
inside surface of each of the gunpost covers. Her poop-deck railing has a
painted scene of nudes in grass on a blue background. Two quarter galleries,
one stern walk, a painted decorative strip and two gunports below her lower
windows on the stern also grace this model. An elaborate carving on her stern
shows a bust of a king at the center framed by two gods, with a lion on each
side with Neptune. Her figurehead is a crowned lion and the model is mounted on
a mahogany veneer stand with 2 metal braces amidships. One can easily spend an
hour picking out all the details her model makers put into her.
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| Curator Fred Calabretta maneuvers the model from building to van. |
Until
last month the BURFORD was a part of our Treasures from the Collections Exhibit
in the R. J. Schaefer Building. With the advent of the new Ships, Clocks and
Stars Exhibit coming this Fall, the model was moved back to the Collections
Research Center, a nice safe harbor, until she next goes on display. A delicate job, she was moved
from the exhibit to the CRC by our Collections Manager Chris White, our Curator
of Collections seen here, Fred Calabretta, and a number of other Museum staff.