Cutty Sark — 1869 Tea Clipper Ship Model, Handcrafted Wood | Admiral Line
Cutty Sark — 1869 Tea Clipper Ship Model, Handcrafted Wood | Admiral Line
Model details
- Materials
- Mahogany, Western red cedar, Rosewood, Brass, Linen sails
- Construction
- Plank-on-frame, built by hand
- Condition
- Fully assembled, ready to display
- Display
- Wooden base with brass nameplate
- Collection
- Tall Ship Models - Admiral Line
- Item no.
- T016
The last tea clipper in the world, and for a few short years the fastest ship on the China run.
Built plank on frame in western red cedar, rosewood and mahogany — each hull plank laid individually over a wooden frame, the way the original was built on the Clyde. Hundreds of hours per hull. Arrives fully assembled.
Construction
- Plank-on-frame hull with composite-era lines: sharp entry, long run, raked stern
- Three masts carrying full hand-knotted standing and running rigging
- Hand-stitched linen sails on every yard
- Deck detail: deckhouses, wheel, capstan, boats, rails and fittings
- Metal anchors and wooden rudder
- Solid wood base and engraved brass nameplate
The ship
Launched at Dumbarton in November 1869 for Jock Willis, Cutty Sark was designed for one job: to be first home from China with the new season's tea. The Suez Canal opened three weeks before she sailed and handed that trade to steam. She found her purpose instead in Australian wool, where she was untouchable — London in 73 days on her best run, repeatedly beating steamers over the same route.
She takes her name from Robert Burns's Tam o' Shanter: the short shift worn by the witch Nannie, who chases Tam and is immortalised as the ship's figurehead.
Today she sits in dry dock at Greenwich, the only surviving tea clipper on earth.