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Home Artist Information Phoenix Rising Selected Commissions Wildlife Sculptures HMS Victory HMS Victory Sculpture
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HMS
Victory ‘Running before the wind’
carved from original oak from HMS Victory
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Length approximately 47 inches (120cm) x 19 inches ( 48 cm) wide x 36 " (92cm) high including the 3 " high (8 cm) red river gum base.
A totally unique scale model of the First Rate ship of the Line; Lord Nelson’s Flagship HMS Victory; created by sculptor and woodcarver Ian G Brennan. The carving has taken almost 6000 of work and although it may look rather fragile, being carved entirely from century’s old original English oak removed from the lower gun deck of HMS Victory it is exceptionally strong.
This sculpture of HMS victory has been
carved entirely from original centuries old oak beams removed from HMS
Victory’s lower gun deck during the restoration program in 1991. The carved
hull of the Victory and the 'sea' the warship is sailing in is carved from deep
within one of these original old Victory oak beams.
Whilst Ian was working onboard HMS Victory carving the replacement starboard side entrance port, two large badly rotten, worm damaged oak beams amongst others, were removed from the lower gun deck and after careful examination by the restoration team, were deemed totally unsuitable to be restored and returned back onto the ship, these timbers were then dropped into a skip was placed alongside HMS Victory. Ian was later asked "rather than these old timbers simply wasted, would he like to see if it was at all possible to produce anything useful from them". ..…….this was to become the start of the ultimate recycling project.
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From one of these large oak beams Ian carved a four feet long battle of Trafalgar scene depicting HMS Victory and HMS Royal Sovereign about to break through the French and Spanish line of warships. This relief carving is now displayed onboard HMS Victory’s middle gun deck. The other large oak beam removed from the lower gun deck at the same time later used to produce the HMS Victory sculpture.
Two of Ian’s 107 commissions to date for the Royal Household was to produce the carved and gilded Royal Crest and Knights Sword for HRH Prince William when Prince William was officially appointed a Royal Knight of the Garter in 2007.
Part of Prince William’s Sword was made from pieces of the same oak timbers that were used to carve the HMS Victory sculpture; this Sword is now on public display in St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
It has been said amongst Ian’s family, many of which have served in the Royal Marines, including his father James Brennan, that of his ancestors Marine John Brennan fought with and died along with Admiral Nelson onboard HMS Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar. Although Ian’s father was a proud Scot, his ancestors are from the Irish republic and many lived in and around Shannon, the home town of Royal Marine John Brennan.
The history and the various stages behind producing the carving
of HMS Victory :-
During 1991/1992, Ian G Brennan was commissioned by The Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth to carve from mahogany an exact replica of the original starboard side entrance port on Admiral Lord Nelson's Flagship, HMS Victory, to replace the original carved painted and gilded oak entrance port which was so badly decayed it was beyond restoration. In many places, it It was only the thick layers of old black lead paint that was keeping most of the original oak entrance port together.
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The replacement starboard side entrance port carved by Ian G Brennan
Ian was shown onboard to see how the current restoration work was progressing. It was clear to see the centuries had taken their toll on some of the other oak timbers on the Victory particularly those on the lower gun deck. Some of the original oak beams were found to be very badly rotten and worm damaged and were subsequently removed and replaced with timbers skilfully by the shipwrights in Portsmouth Naval Dockyard mostly from teak and iroco.
This much needed restoration, which has now gone on for many decades, was being concentrated on the starboard side, lower gun deck area around the seventh gun port. Some of these original oak beams were being carefully removed from where the 32 pounder was normally positioned. The vast majority of the lower gun deck is said to be the original oak timber used in the construction of HMS Victory in 1765 and by examining the condition of the oak beams this could easily be the case. Some of the old oak beams simply crumbled away in your hands due to worm damage and decay, hence the reason they were being removed from the ship.
Most of the beams were being removed by shipwrights using chainsaws and although attempts were made to keep the old oak beams as large as possible which would enable the beams if found to be in restorable, could then be returned, back onto the ship. However as these beams were often very difficult to access in such cramped conditions on the lower gun deck, many could only be removed in smaller sections. Once removed if the beams were to be un-restorable, they were then rather unceremoniously thrown through the large gapping hole in the ships starboard side down into the waiting skips below.
There were however two large thick oak beams that were roughly four feet long which were eventually removed relatively intact from the ceiling, although they like other beams were suffering badly from rot and worm damage. On close inspection it was found that these were, unfortunately, unsuitable for restoration and were like the others simply dropped down into the waiting skips below on the dockside alongside the Victory.
All the beams that were removed which could not be fully restored were subsequently later by similar shaped beams skilfully recreated by the ship wrights, in the workshops inside number 4 boat house near to HMS Victory. Large blocks of Iroco timber was mostly used as Iroco has proved to be much more durable in the conditions within the warship than large pieces of oak have proved to be in the past.
Most of the oak beams were firmly attached to the deck head (ceiling) of the lower gun deck by large iron and copper bolts which had to be first cut through to enable the beams to be removed. One of these beams, which was used to create the Victory sculpture, still had the original iron hook imbedded into its base which once held the rope attached to the crews mess table which was original fixed into the deck head above 32-pounder gun. When called to action stations the ropes holding the mess tables were quickly removed from these hooks allowing mess tables to be quickly stored away below
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The 32-pounder gun, hammock and mess table on the lower gun deck on HMS Victory – close up showing the original iron hook supporting the mess table fixed into the deck head.
Ian was later asked, as many of these old oak beams were obviously not in any condition to be restored and returned to the ship, if he would like to try and see if it were possible to carve anything useful from part of these old beams rather than the oak being simply wasted. It was suggested that in return for being given these old Victory oak beams perhaps he could try and carve one or small carvings from pieces of them which he could then donate to some of the charities supported within Portsmouth Dockyard; something Ian was more than happy to do.
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Two of the Victory relief panels donated for the charity fundraising
As HMS Victory’s crew were often raising funds for various charities, including the annual BBC’s Children in Need appeal; of the first of these carvings Ian from the Victory oak was a bas-relief carving of HMS Victory in full sail. This relief carving was then auction off within the Naval Dockyard for the BBC’s ‘Children in Need' appeal which fortunately raised a lot of money for the charity. Ian was then asked to carve and donate another similar size panel of the Victory for the following years fund raising event, this particular bas-relief carving depicted HMS Victory from the Stern.
When Ian was given some of these original Victory timbers they were often covered in thick layers of old lead paint and frequently contained either holes where iron or copper bolts were once attached or as often or not the remains of these old iron and copper bolts still firmly embedded in position deep within the beams. As these iron bolts had often badly corroded over the centuries in made then very difficult to remove without having to cut away the oak that surrounded them.
Apart from the bas-relief carved relief panels of ‘HMS Victory in full sail’ Ian was pleased to donate over the years, he has also carved several other smaller items, all from pieces of these original HMS Victory timbers. Not only were they given to a wide variety of charities to auction off to make some funds for their particular worthy causes, but Ian produced some other smaller carvings which were then occasionally also presented to retiring crew members and the occasional visiting VIP’s to Portsmouth Dockyard.
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These carvings created from these Victory’s timbers have also included such objects as a small Victory topsail, replicas of 32 pounder guns and a typical wooden spoon and goblet similar to the type which would have been used by Nelson’s crew.
On one occasion Ian was also asked if it would be possible to carve one of his 8 inches long 32 pounder guns this time from part of what remained of one of HMS Victory’s original large deadeyes which were originally used to restrain and to put tension on the Victory’s various standing rigging lines. Most of this particular deadeye was missing and what remained was badly split and deemed beyond practical restoration and was being now being replaced.
Although it was often the case that although on the outside of the these old Victory timbers as they were often covered in paint they initially appear to be in quite a reasonable condition, more often the case the moment Ian got them back to the workshop and the layers of old paint removed, the splits, rot and worm damage was found to be much more extensive than first hoped, great lumps of oak, much of which had the texture of soft cork would simply crumbled away in your hands and in the end nothing useful could be done with them.
The two large oak beams that were removed from the deck head the lower gun deck showed a little more promise however and although 2/3rds of these original oak beams were totally unusable once this rotten wood was carefully removed sound wood started to appear which would enable something larger to be carved in one piece.
This remaining 1/3rd of these particular oak beams fortunately was relatively sound at the base, however as these beams were originally not only part of the deck head on the lower gun deck, but also obviously part of the decking of the middle gun deck; consequently as water was frequently used by the ships crew to wash down the middle gun deck directly above, the water would seep down the sides of the oak beams below and over the centuries gradually rot the timbers.
After removing the rotten oak the idea Ian had of trying to carve in full bas-relief a scene of the Battle of Trafalgar, looked more promising, the first thing he had to do was to work out which one of these two oak beams were the most suitable to be use for the proposed Breaking the Allied Line bas-relief carving.
Eventually the slightly longer and wider of the two beams was chosen. Although much of this particular beam was also rotten, it was slightly thicker and once you eventually got down to sound oak it would enable the relief carving to have a little more height and depth.
From this beam the bas-relief carving of HMS Victory and HMS Royal Sovereign about to break the Allied line at Trafalgar was carved. For over a decade the ‘Battle of Trafalgar’ scene has been on exhibition in the Royal Naval Museum alongside Lord Nelson’s Flagship. However in 2010 this relief carving was moved to just inside the portside entrance port on HMS Victory’s middle gun deck, not so very far from the actual spot where it was once part of the very fabric of the historic Warship.
click to enlarge wording
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The Battle of Trafalgar scene on display in the Portsmouth Naval Museum 48 inches (120 cm) long
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The Battle of Trafalgar scene now onboard the Middle Gun deck of HMS Victory
HMS Victory ‘Running before the Wind’ carved entirely from original Victory oak
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Length approximately 47 inches (120cm)
x 19 inches ( 48 cm) wide x 32
" (82cm) high
The remaining large oak beam which was originally placed directly above one of the32-pounder guns was at the back of Ian’s workshop where it remained for quite some time simply gathering dust. On occasions Ian would again carve a couple of small objects from the oak beam for the dockyard charities etc, the vast majority of the beam remained relatively untouched for a number of years as it was at the time of its removal from the HMS Victory’s lower gun deck.
With the bi-centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar being well over a decade away, Ian thought that perhaps with the old Victory oak beam still in his workshop it might just be possible to preserve some of the Victory’s timbers in a somewhat different form, namely a three-dimensional scale model of HMS Victory, a First Rate Ship of the Line carved in full sail just as the warship would have looked ’running before the wind’ at Cape Trafalgar in October1805.
Although there are many excellent models of HMS Victory that have been made over the years, Ian decided rather than attempt to produce yet another highly detailed model, as he had been given these centuries old pieces of oak, despite the fact the remaining timber was not in the best condition he would still like to try and create a totally unique replica of HMS Victory, carved in as much detail as would be possible from such old timbers, which were once part of the very heart of Nelson’s Flagship itself, despite the fact that trying to carve a highly detailed model from such old discarded beams would obviously have its limitations.
Due to the condition of the timber and the fact that Ian was determined to carve as much of the ship as possible from solid pieces of this centuries old oak, it would often mean he would have to carve a lot of the detail, often against the grain, trying to avoid were possible traces of long departed woodworm, rotten timber, old nails and bolts and other assorted pieces of metal which were often found embedded deep within the these centuries old oak timbers. However trying to carve a large ship model in such a unique way from such material as he was attempting to do was always going to be problematic, but he thought well worth the attempt …..This particular HMS Victory model was going to be a one off in every possible sense.
Ian knew it would obviously take him a long time to carve, especially as he had never tried to produce a mode ship before and, more particularly, as it was going to be carved from the remains of rock hard oak. He had learnt from various other projects that he made from the Victory oak that it was so hard it was just like trying to carve concrete.
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The top and base of the Victory oak beam used for the Victory Sculpture -the hook used to support the mess table on the lower gun deck still embedded in the beam
The pictures above shows how extensive the rot and worm damaged were on these large oak beams and how hundreds of years in such adverse conditions on the lower gun deck had taken its toll, half of the original oak beam was unusable and was subsequently removed. It also shows one end of the original iron bolt that had once fixed the beam in position on the Victory’s lower gun deck and also the old rusting iron hook which once held a mess table still firmly embedded into the beam.
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After many hours the rotten/worm damaged oak was eventually removed from the oak beam
When Ian had carefully removed all of the soft rotten/worm damaged oak which remained on the beam trying to salvage as much of the sound oak as possible, he found that around 30 % of the original oak beam was still in relatively good condition and thought that it might well be possible to produce something a lot larger than the small objects he donated to the causes over the years.
After examining some plans of the Victory and taking careful measurements of the remaining oak beam, Ian worked out it should just be possible to produce the complete hull of the Victory model and along with the ‘sea’ the warship was sailing in, all carved from one solid piece. This remaining good quality oak on the beam, which was just over 9 inches wide, should enable the Victory’s hull to be produced from the highest point of the ships poop deck down to the ships hull ‘sailing’ in the ‘carved ocean’.
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The basic outline of the HMS Victory taking shape and the carved hull a considerable time later
The worst part to carve of the whole project was without doubt the
aft section of the ship where Lord Nelson and the ships officer’s cabins were
situated on HMS Victory. Trying to carve anything into end grain in any timber
is very difficult at the best of times but trying to carve detail such as the
mouldings, windows, gingerbreads* etc on the aft of the Victory sculpture from
the end grain of centuries old Victory oak which didn’t lend it self to such
work was a little tiresome to say the least.
(*Gingerbreads are the ornate decorations and
mouldings around the transom (rear end of the ship)
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Although there is several smaller old handmade nails and bolts which run along almost the entire length of the beam imbedded deep within the oak, they did not interfere with the carving process too much and remained in position throughout. However the two large copper and iron bolts that were still attached towards one end of the beam had to be removed and were only replaced once all the carving itself been completed.
These two larger bolts were roughly positioned 2 inches away from both edges of the width of the beam 33 inches down on one end of the beam. This would just enable the potential 5 inches high x 5 inches wide x 31 inches long hull of the Victory to be carved from one solid piece, narrowly missing both bolts, providing the bolts were cut down to the proposed sea level. These two large bolts were fortunately found to be offset just enough to just miss the potential bow and figurehead of the ship.
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Some might say if you wanted to produce a large scale model of HMS Victory, possibly the most efficient and well tried method would be to cut the oak beam into much smaller pieces which will then enable you to work on producing the model ship so much easier; Once all the fine detail has been produced simply glue all the separate pieces together; just as ship model makers have been doing using a variety of different woods with excellent results for many years.
Even if it may well be the easiest way to produced the ship Ian decided that this was not really the point of the whole exercise; the idea was to try and carve as much of the Victory as possible from the one single oak beam that was once an integral part of the very structure of HMS Victory itself, in away that has never been done by any ship model makers in the past, every part of the warship from the hull to the signal flags and bellowing sails was to be made from solid blocks of oak, all carved from the actual oak timbers removed from the very it replicates.
Although the Victory sculpture has carved in fine detail, Ian initially didn’t want to get too bogged down to much in carving the Victory sculpture in very minute detail, he thought at the time that actual nature and condition of the centuries old oak itself, especially trying to carve from one piece often against the grain, wouldn’t always allow for that anyway; but instead he wanted to try and get a true feeling of how HMS Victory would have look like on that day in October 1805 as she would have been seen ‘running before the wind’ at the head of the British Fleet sailing towards Cape Trafalgar to join forces in battle with the combined French and Spanish Fleets, along with her full complement of crew at action stations , including Marine John Brennan.
This particular oak is also so very different from any other wood ever used by ship model makers in the past, so it had to be treated differently. Not only is the oak hundreds of years old, but every single part of the Victory model would actually have originated from the lower gun deck of HMS Victory itself, so it had to be treated with some respect although the oak was rock hard, unforgiving and rather difficult to work.
Ian also didn't really like the idea of cutting the relatively long original oak beam into small pieces, even though it would have been much easier to make it that way, but instead he preferred creating a model of the Victory just like a sculpture and carve it as much as possible from one solid piece, just as he normally does with his other wood sculptures.
Michelangelo was once quoted as saying for carving in marble, which is just as relevant for wood carving "the sculpture already existed inside the block of marble, the stone was just the covering that contained a work of art, the sculptor only had to take away the part in excess". This Victory sculpture had already existed deep within the old Victory oak beam for centuries; along with a pod of dolphins which can be found riding the bow wave.
After Ian had worked out where the hull of the Victory could best be carved, managing to avoid the many of the old copper and iron nails and bolts which were still present in the beam. Trying to carve fine detail through the occasional embedded nails and old iron and copper bolts which suddenly appeared deep within the beam did however cause quite a few difficulties at times. This rather unusual method of working often proved to be not as such an effective way of working as he would have liked. On many occasions the merits of attempting to produce the HMS Victory model from within one of the original oak beam soon began to disappear.
Much of the original white paint was still attached to the beam. This paint was frequently used within the interior of the warship in an attempt to improve the ships rather dimly lit interior. Paint can still be seen covering two sides of the beam, as well as the rather rusty iron hook used to support the crews mess table still firmly attached in its original position beneath the ‘sea’ of the Victory sculpture itself.
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The shape
of the Victory's hull now carved within the oak beam after most
of the damaged oak had been removed
One of the large iron bolts which was still present in the beam passed right through the timber. This particular large iron bolt would originally have been used to hold together this and other interconnecting beams. The victory's skilful construction by the 18th century shipwrights was such that the ship was basically held together by tons of iron and copper bolts along with an assortment of handmade nails and mitred joints, each carefully shaped to lock together into the corresponding beam.
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Click image to enlarge
Some of the original bolts and nails were temporarily removed whenever possible to assist the carving process. These bolts were retained and then placed back into their original positions. Some of the iron bolts had rusted in position over the years and were initially impossible to remove until the vast majority of oak which surrounded them had been cut away. The larger of these original iron bolts was eventually cut through at what is now the sculpture’s ‘sea level’.
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Throughout the whole carving process all the off cuts of the old Victory oak were retained and were later used to carve some of the masts, sails, rigging, guns etc. Due to the oaks great age it was both tough and stable so Ian was able to carve all the ships sails almost as thin as egg shells, giving the desired effect of Lord Nelson's famous Warship in full sail upon the ocean.
Although the majority of the Victory sculpture’s hull was carved from one single piece, the rest of the oak required to complete the sculpture was also carved from some of the oak off-cuts removed from the "Breaking the Allied line" relief carving, which has now been placed on the middle gun deck of HMS Victory and also from another smaller oak beam that was removed from the lower gun deck at the time during the restoration program in 1991.
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Although on the smaller oak beam; which had split down the entire length, you could tell by the length of the remaining old corroded iron bolt that most of oak on this smaller oak beam had long rotted away. Much of what remained was so badly decade the rotten oak could be simply pulled away like dry moss on a tree stump, along one side of the remaining section of sound oak used for the carving still had the thick orange/red coloured undercoat that was often applied to many of the oak beams to during the original construction of HMS Victory in 1765.
On this oak beam; which had split down the entire length, you could tell by the length of the remaining old corroded iron bolt that most of oak had long rotted away. Much of what remained was so badly decade the rotten oak could be simply pulled away just like dry moss on a tree stump. Along one side of the remaining section of sound oak used for the carving it still had the thick orange/red coloured undercoat that was often applied to many of the oak beams to during the original construction of HMS Victory in 1765.
Although initially this particular smaller oak beam was found to be in a far worst condition than the others and was initially discarded, after carefully removing the rotten oak it was found that there was surprisingly just enough sound oak remaining to not only complete the Victory sculpture, but there would also still be enough oak left over to produce a few smaller items for the Royal Navy charities, if the need once again arises in the future.
As each of the 37 sails was slightly different, paper templates of the outline of the proposed sail were cut out and carefully laid out upon the beam which would not only enable you to avoiding any potential imperfections in the oak, but by cutting out the various sails in a certain way you could also maximise the amount of usable oak available. Even the tiniest off- cut was carefully removed to make, such things as the sculptures anchors and gun barrels.
shown below; a small selection of the 104 different gun barrels which have been turned from the oak now awaiting the guns undercarriage, wheels and crossbar to be carved. As only the gun barrels remain visible on most of the three gun decks Ian only has to fully carve 16 guns with all the undercarriage showing. These include twelve 32 pounder guns, two - 68 pounder carronades and two 12 pounder bow- chasers.
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Some
of the carved gun barrels for the 12 pounder gun - 68 pounder carronade -32
pounder gun – for scale a 32 pounder gun alongside a one pence and one
cent coin
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Some of the 32-pounder guns and carronades in position
Although Ian's normal way of working is to produce his wood sculptures from a single piece of wood, due to the depth of the original oak beam available and the eventual height of the Victory sculpture it was obviously still going to be necessary to carve all the sails and masts separately. It was not until all the fine detail of the hull had been completed and sanded smooth was the rest of the carving would be fully together.
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As well as the scale model's hull and the carved sea, all of the Victory's models, masts, sails, 104 guns, anchors, small launches, rigging, flags etc, have also been carved entirely from original Victory oak. The 37 sails which the Victory carried in full sail were carved in such a way as to represent the historic 18th century warship fast approaching Cape Trafalgar.
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HMS Victory thirty seven different carved
HMS Victory thirty seven different sails including the 'stun' sails hanging from each end of the yard arms; some of these carved sails shown above were later changed as new facts emerged to the size and shape of such sails on the early nineteenth century warships.
During 2008 whilst Ian G Brennan; shown above, was working on the Victory sculpture, he was commissioned by the Royal Household to produce, amongst several other sculptures, of a mute swan, a black Labrador and the Royal Crest and Sword for HRH Prince William. On St George’s Day; when Ian was invited to Windsor Castle, he was also informed by HM The Queen that Prince William was to become the 1000 Knight of the Garter since 1348.
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HRH Prince William’s carved Royal Crest and Sword
In 2008 being worked on alongside the HMS Victory sculpture, were the three latest Knights of the Garter Crests which can be seen above in the background, now completed and awaiting to Windsor Castle. These include Prince Williams carved and gilded Royal Crest and Sword.
Traditionally since 1348, the latest Knights of the Garter have their carved and gilded Crest and Sword created and they are then placed above the stall (seat) were they are entitled to sit in St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. Ian was officially appointed the sculptor to the Most Noble Order of the Garter and Order of the Bath in 1989 and has since then been commissioned to create all the Royal Crowns, Coronets and Crests for the Ladies and Knights of the Garter and Knights of the Bath .
As Admiral Lord Nelson was appointed a Knight of the Bath in 1803 his Crest which would have been carved by one of Ian’s predecessors which would have then been placed upon a Knights helmet above his stall in Westminster Abbey, exactly Ian’s carvings are now placed.
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Ian G Brennan’s carved and gilded Royal Crest and Sword for HRH Prince William St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle
Traditionally the swords for the Knights of the Garter are carved from Scots pine, painted and gilded and then places beneath the Knights Helmet in St George’s Chapel Windsor. Ian also heard that in medieval times, jewels or semi precious stones were sometimes placed into the hilt of a King or Princes Swords; so when Ian was creating Prince Williams Royal Crest and Sword and as he was also carving the Victory sculpture, he thought he would set into the hilt of the Prince’s sword, a piece of original Victory oak that was removed earlier from just in front of the carved figurehead on the sculpture; as Prince William being second in line to the British Throne; the future King of England and will one day also be the Head of the Senior Service; The Royal Navy.
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Ian has also carved out of Victory oak amongst the mass of carved ropes and rigging, the signal flags depicting the famous signal that Admiral Nelson flew at Trafalgar, ‘England Expects that every man will do his duty'. Ian also studied films of 18th century warships to try and observe the motion of the signal flags of a ship in full sail. As the Victory sculpture was being carved shown ‘running before the wind’ with bellowing sails, these signal flags and pennants, although blowing about in the wind, are carved for the most part shown going in the same direction as the ship, which looked a little odd at first as you might expect these signal flags would be trailing behind with the warship forward motion.
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It must have taken around two hundred feet of thin strips of oak from between 1mm to 3 mm thick to make all ropes and rigging. All of which were first cut into thin strips and then each one had then to be rounded off down the entire length. Some of the ropes and rigging were also sometimes carved in very tight curves in such a way to give the impression as if the ropes were curled up or sagging under their own weight.
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One of the pod of dolphins can be seen on the starboard side ridding the bow wave
Ian also wanted to capture what HMS Victory would have looked like pitching about in a choppy sea, in full sail in a desperate attempt to gain more speed to engage the enemy. The warship forward pitching motion evident as the bow slightly dips into the sea; a pod of playful carved dolphins can be seen riding the bow wave totally unaware of the impending battle ahead. The lower gun deck gun ports having just been opened and the guns run out, the very moment that some of the sails were about to be trimmed for the impending action. The spritsail due to this forward pitching of the warship has been carved as if it would have been set in choppy seas, not fully unfurled, even the sprit topsail is shown to be dipping down slightly on the port side as if the tension in the corresponding ropes and block and tackle to that particular sail has slackened off slightly.
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Once the actual carving of the Victory replica was completed a wooden base then had to be made to raise the Victory and the ‘carved sea’ off the ground, which would enable the old iron hook which once held the ships mess table to be retained in its original position underneath the oak beam. A mahogany base was initially produced show above; however as this base was made out of a modern timber Ian felt it was just not in keeping with the centuries old timbers use to create the Victory sculpture, so this base was later removed and a more appropriate older timber sort.
Ian was then reminded that perhaps what remained of the small piece of an original centuries old turned HMS Victory *deadeyehe was given in 1992 which he made the small 32 pounder gun for a charity event might with a bit of modification be suitable for the base.
Although half of this particular deadeye was missing and in a very sorry state when Ian was first given it and what remained was split right through in many places and despite the fact that a piece of the wood had already been removed years ago to carve the 32 pounder gun, there was fortunately just enough left over which could be used to make the base.
* HMS Victory’s original deadeyes which were used to restrain and to put tension on the Victory’s various standing rigging lines. Two hundred and sixteen deadeyes were needed to set up the standing rigging. These deadeyes made in the 18th century for HMS Victory and are said to have been turned up from river red gum which was 5000 year old.
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HMS Victory’s original deadeyes’ in position on the ship and the remaining section of one of the deadeyes used for the Victory sculpture’s base.
The centuries on board the Victory however had really taken their toll on the wooden deadeye as both the original 30 mm iron bolts that once held the two halves of the deadeye together when it was fixed in position within the rigging on HMS Victory, around 2/3rds of the iron bolts had rusted completely away over the centuries so that only 6 mm of relatively sound metal remained.
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The HMS Victory sculpture is approximately 47 inches long (120cm) x 36 " (92cm) high and has been carved for the most part from one large solid piece of English oak, it weighs around 47 lbs (21 kilo’s.)
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It is not until you see the mass of sail and ropes can you begin to understand how complex a fully rigged First Rate Warship like HMS Victory would have been at action stations in full sail, that you begin to realise why it took 850 men to adequately crew the Warship.
With all the carved rigging added the Victory the carving looks very fragile. This is far from the case however, as all the masts and spars are supported each side by carved oak ropes all of which then held under tension by the carved oak blocks and tackles. These ropes then support and fix everything firmly in position, just as HMS Victory would have been at sea, consequently nothing on the Victory sculpture moves out of place and it is deceptively very strong and fortunately easily transportable.
The HMS Victory sculpture is approximately 47 inches long (120cm) x 32
" (82cm) high and has been carved for the most part from one large solid
piece of English oak, it weighs around 45 lbs (20 kilo’s.)
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On and off for almost two decades, whenever he could somehow try and find the time, Ian had been carving this sculpture of HMS Victory and has spent almost 6,000 hours to complete it Ian explains "It was a rather slow process as the oak being so old and rock hard. You have to take your time and make sure you carve it right first time. The original oak is irreplaceable so you cannot make a mistake and simply discard the piece of wood and go to the local timber yard and get some more.
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In 2009 work on the Victory sculpture began again, a day here a fortnight there carving the Victory and soon the real enthusiasm returned once again. However the prospect of having to work the very long hours working on both the model and his sculpture commissions for the foreseeable future once again was not really a very sensible option and a choice had soon to be made.
However with well over 4500 hours already spent carving the Victory and as enquires for sculpture commissions were coming in all the time potentially stretching well into the future, Ian could see that it was becoming more likely the Victory might never be finished. He then decided he had no alternative, but he would have to once again stop taking on new commissions, apart from his usual commissions for the Royal Household and to try and concentrate all his effort on finally completing the Victory.
With the 250th anniversary of the original HMS Victory being built now on the horizon, work on the Victory sculpture, once again began in earnest and then almost 6000 hours later the sculpture was finally completed on June 6th 2011. remained of the original HMS Victory's old paint on the beam has all been retained along with the original hand made square nails and old copper screws and bolts, along with the green patina which has gradually built up over the centuries.
Although the oak would obviously look rather splendid after sealing and polishing like Ian usually does with his other wood sculptures, he tends to think perhaps this would be inappropriate for this particular sculpture and instead decided to leave it with its natural un-waxed old oak finish and texture, just as it has always been for many centuries hidden deep within the old oak beam on board HMS Victory’s lower gun deck.
The oak does not require any artificial finish to be added for preservation reasons anyway, as the oak it has lasted for many centuries in far worst conditions within the hull of HMS than the Victory sculpture is expected to have to endure in the future, without having any form of artificial finish being applied to the oak.
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The natural untreated oak colour - a spare oak sail with a wood finish applied
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The temporary ‘wash’ of white spirit having been added to the sculptures ‘sea’
As an experiment however just to see what the colour of the sculpture might look like if some form of artificial finish was applied; Ian put a ‘wash’ of clear white spirit to the carved sea the Victory is sailing in; immediately the wonderful rich medium oak colour of the oak stood out, before the white spirit quickly evaporated and the oak once again returned to its natural colour.
Just applying the white spirit to the sea did however not only make the grain and the choppy sea stand out but also made it look as if the Victory was totally separate and actually sailing in the sea, so perhaps one day just applying a wood finish to the ‘sea’ might be another possible option.
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On
that historic and momentous day in 1805 off Cape Trafalgar, within the
cramp dimly lit lower gun deck, amid the noise and confusion from
the fierce battle being fort all around, the Victory sculpture although yet
to be released by the sculptors hands, was being protected from all
the elements deep within the oak beam, and although this beam containing
the sculpture was bolted directly above the fearsome 32 pound gun being
used so effectively by the ships well drilled crew just inches below, the
carving contained within the beam had manage to survived both the Battle of
Trafalgar and the following two centuries.
Throughout the
long hours the deadly battle raged, the exhausted gun
crews anxieties and eventual exaltation as the battle won, was being
absorbed into the very fibre of this piece of English oak. This beam was
indeed an integral part of the heart and structure of HMS Victory's great
'wooden walls'…. . If only walls could talk.
Although
Ian G Brennan has for over twenty five years been creating a huge
variety of detailed and often elaborate sculptures, over a hundred of which
have been commissioned by the British Royal Household, this sculpture of
HMS Victory must surely rate as one of the most irreplaceable wood
carvings he has ever produced, the Victory sculpture has already
featured on numerous occasions in television programs, newspaper and
magazine articles and continues to do so.
This Victory sculpture must also be one of the most unique examples of Maritime Art, especially when you consider not only has the sculpture been produced entirely from original centuries old oak from HMS Victory's lower gun deck and was once an integral part of the very structure of the Victory itself, but it was created by the wood carver who worked on-board the historic 18th century Warship, commissioned to carve the replacement mahogany starboard side entrance port on the middle gun deck of Lord Nelson's famous Flagship.
Who would have thought that these few centuries old rotten oak beams one of which was once bolted directly above one of HMS Victory's formidable 32 pound guns on the warships lower gun deck; these once discarded old oak beams full of corroding hand made iron bolts and nails along with the traces of long departed woodworm once hidden beneath thick layers of lead paint would eventually be salvaged into something quite so remarkable.
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HMS Victory ‘Running before the Wind’
When Ian first thought about the possibility of carving the Victory sculpture in 1991 it sounded like a good idea at the time; however as unique as the Victory sculpture is after working on it on and off for seventeen years; almost 6000 hours, which works out to around 50 hours a week, every week, for over two years on what amounts to unpaid leave on something Ian often has often described as trying to carve concrete, he has on more than one occasion not been quite so sure.
Although part of him would like to keep the Victory sculpture he knows if it was still in his studio he would be unable to resist maybe just tweaking it a bit here and there, like you do and who knows in time it may well perhaps lose a bit of the rawness he always wanted to retain in the carving; it was after all created from old historic timbers. Anyway just as importantly as it has transpired in the end, these many thousands of hours of so called ‘unpaid leave’ Ian had spent creating the Victory, wouldn’t allow such a luxury; it is now time the Victory finds a new berth.
Every part of this replica of Nelson’s historic Flagship, the sea, the ships hull, masts, guns, ropes, rigging and bellowing sails, have all been carved from within pieces of centuries old oak beams removed from the actual warship it depicts; from old oak timbers rescued from a skip..….. All of which makes this HMS Victory sculpture totally unique ….... a wonderful piece of both English and French history…..completion of the ultimate recycling/restoration project.
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The Victory Sculpture is currently on loan to the Carpenters’ Company and is on display in the reception area of Carpenters Hall in the City of London.
If
you would like further information regarding the HMS Victory sculpture, please
contact either Ian direct at ian@iangb.com
or myself at Suzanne@suzannecavill.com.
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