Ship model  yacht Max Emanuel

Historical background of the yacht

In 1711, Max Emanuel, Duke of Bavaria and governor of the Spanish Netherlands, ordered a splendid yacht, which turned out to become an object of envy and gossip. Some political implications with Max Emanuel's appearance in his new assignment as governor caused the Count of Ossuna to give a detailed report on the yacht to his king. This report and a contemporary engraving have been the base of the plans by Wolfram zu Mondfeld, by which this model was built. Here are data to the ship and the historical background (in German).

The ship model Max Emanuel, photos, description and dimensions

Please take your time to have a good look at the set of photos. There are several views of the entire model and of details. If you click on a photo you will get that photo in high resolution. Only these high resolution photographs show how much work and handicraft ability were put in the model. (If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer or Firefox, press F11 to minimize navigation bars and have a larger screen with the photos.)

For the ship model a suitable display case is included, in which also the most important flags and flag compositions are shown, which were mentioned by Wolfram zu Mondfeld. The ship model flies the flags "Duke on board". Two pictures find you here: the flags before the ship in the display case and the ship in the showcase. The display case is made from beech wood with plexiglass. In the cover above there are three lights. The display case is 110 cm long, 49 cm wide and of 120 cm high.

The model of the Max Emanuel is 1 : 33 scale. Length is 83 cm, width 37 cm, height 103 cm.

The ship model is a true masterpiece. The planks of the hull are walnut and/or maple, fixed by approximately 3500 pieces of pulled bamboo nails. Mast and yards are from pear, the carving work is pear and plum tree covered with gold leaf. The blocks are pear with blocksheaves from brass.  The sails are made of slightly coloured cotton. The flags are handpainted on silk.

The ship model was built in 4 1/2 years with 3300 work hours.

TThis model is no longer for sale. The pictures and the data are shown in the gallery of the ship models sold only to let enthusiasts and model makers enjoy the photos and maybe get ideas or some guidance, if someone builds such a model by himself.