'The Trafalgar Scene'
The Trafalgar scene is a bas- relief carving of HMS Victory and HMS Royal Sovereign about to break the allied line at Trafalgar. The timber itself is part of an original oak beam from HMS Victory's lower gun deck Ian was given when I worked on-board Lord Nelson's Flagship when he was commissioned to carve the replacement starboard side entrance port on the warships middle gun deck.
for further details - sculptor-iangb.com/hms-victory.htm
Whilst Ian was carving this replacement entrance port on the middle gun deck the centuries had also taken their toll on some of the oak timbers which had to be removed from within the Victory's hull during the restoration process. As some of these old oak beams were found to be badly rotten and worm damaged and beyond repair Ian was asked by members of the ships crew if he would be able to carve something with them which could then be auction off to help the ships crew with their annual fund raising for the 'BBC Children in Need' TV program. This 'Trafalgar scene' carving was produced from part of the remaining oak beam.
Sculptor Ian G Brennan
As the oak is many centuries old and the oak was extremely hard carving the scene was therefore slow work “it was just like trying to carve concrete” It has taken Ian several weeks of full time work to complete the carving. The remaining traces of the original white paint and also an old copper bolt have been retained on the back of the oak beam, along with the now small traces of the rotten wood and flight holes in the oak from the now long departed Toledo worm
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One of the Victory relief panels donated for the fund raising - the top slab of Victory oak was the piece of oak used for the 'Trafalgar scene'
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On the morning of 21 October off Cape Trafalgar the English fleet prepared to move in to attack. Nelson signalled the fleet to prepare for battle and the two lines of First Rate Warships prepared to break the allied line led by HMS Sovereign and Admiral Lord Nelson's Flagship HMS Victory.
For those interested in a small piece of British Naval history 'The Trafalgar Scene' bas-relief carving will shortly become available ; for details please click here