I made this dinner plate sized version of The Star of India for the Twinings tea tin Christmas tree this year at the Cutty Sark.
The original is a beautiful domed object about 40 cms in diameter which I hadn't seen before I made this version. A new one has been made for the stern of the ship and has the look of a jelly mould and is much deeper than the original. I did this from the original drawings so has a much sharper edge.
A portrait of Captain Woodget painted on a piece of the hull material which is rock elm. It is studded with brass nails which were used to hammer on the muntz metal which covered the hull and was one of the reasons the ship recorded such high speeds.
It is the first painting I have done in many years.
Captain Woodget was much loved by the crew, fearless and eccentric he roller skated on board, was a phographer, bred Collies and took them to Australia. He was born on November 21st 1845, one hundred years to the day before my own birth.
