Nineteenth century painted wood shipyard model of the schooner Keiron mounted on the original painted backing board. Painted topside with a white boot-topping and natural wood finish to the underside of the hull.
965 mm x 220mm. (    inches).
Half ship models were the traditional device used by ship designers to refine the shape of a boat's hull and by the entrepreneurs commissioning the vessel to show the design details in three dimensions. When the design details had been settled and the half model constructed, depending on the method used, the half model was the basis of the full sized boat. They were made by two different methods. They could be carved out of a solid block of wood or more commonly, by a series of strips of wood of various thicknesses and temporarily put together. This was known as the "lift" method. This required less material to be removed in the carving process. Lift models could be later seperated and the pieces traced around to create a scale drawing and from that a plan for the construction of the boat.
At the completion of the boat, the half hull model would be presented to the owner as a memento, usually attached to a board.