Have you ever seen a ship in a bottle, perhaps in an antique store, and wondered “How do they do that?”

Ships in bottles used to be made by sailors as a hobby. The one pictured above is rather special because it was made by David’s two times great grandfather I think it was. He was a sailor, Danish we think. David had not got very far in learning about the Scandinavian side of his family so the stories are hearsay. This relative was the one who eventually settled in Australia.

David’s father used to have this ship on display and I remember always being fascinated by it. I loved to look at it and wonder if the little buildings represented his home port and where it was? I admired the carving which he would have done by hand too. When David’s dad passed away it came to David as the eldest in the family and we proudly displayed it in our homes for many years.

After David died I took the ship back to Adelaide to his family. This is the sort of family heirloom that should be treasured and passed on. We had no children so it would not have been right for me to keep it. One of my sisters in law has it at her house now and I hope that one of our nieces or nephew will eventually take care of it for another generation.

Just in case you are still wondering how these things are made I found this set of instructions.

https://www.instructables.com/Building-A-Ship-In-A-Bottle/