Scale: 1:24. A contemporary full hull model of a ship's cutter (circa 1838), built plank on frame in double-diagonal construction in the Georgian style. Model is complete with five thwarts, bottom boards and seating in the stern, rudder and tiller. It is mounted on wooden turned pillars above a beaded baseboard complete with bun feet. The base is inscribed with the numbers ‘1’ and ‘6’. It is one of a set of ten boat designs (SLR0768-0776) proposed by Sir William Symonds, Chief Surveyor of the Navy, to be carried by a first-rate man-of-war.

The cutter was very similar in shape to jolly boats (see SLR0771) and became generally available during the early 18th century. Originally built in clinker construction and originating from Deal, Kent, it was described thus by Falconer’s Marine Dictionary in 1769: ‘broader, deeper, and shorter than barges and pinnaces, they are fitter for saling, and are commonly employed in carrying stores, provisions, passengers, &c. to and from the ship. In the structure of this sort of boat, the lower edge of every plank in the side over-lays the upper edge of the plank below, which is called by shipwrights clinch-work.’ This model shows it could be rowed by up to 12 oars worked through rowlocks which were cut into the top strake.