A 1:48 SCALE ARCHITECTS MODEL FOR THE OPIUM CLIPPER SYLPH, D...

Hammer

£2,500

A 1:48 SCALE ARCHITECTS MODEL FOR THE OPIUM CLIPPER SYLPH, DESIGNED BY SIR ROBERT SEPPINGS FOR RUSTOMJEE COWASJEE, 1831

the 24in. hull carved from the solid with ebonised top sides pierced for twenty guns with red-lined ports, gilt female bust figurehead, head rails with boomkins, catheads, carved stern and quarter lights with green windows, plain decks with cutaway masts and bowsprit, mounted on three simulated brick plinths with side wire supports on shaped ebonised display base, overall measurements -- 10 x 30in. (25.5 x 76cm.)

The lure of opium to the Chinese went back centuries, but once the merchants and entrepreneurs of British India became involved in the supply of opium to meet China’s insatiable demand, the trade rapidly evolved into one of the most lucrative on earth.

With the trade in Indian opium already booming by 1830, the following year saw the launching of Sylph, one of the most celebrated of all the ships plying the run to China. Built at Howrah in West Bengal for Rustomjee Cowasjee, a wealthy Parsee shipowner who made a fortune from opium, he was so determined to own a record-breaker that he sent to London and persuaded none other than Sir Robert Seppings, the illustrious Surveyor of the Navy, to design it for him. Measured at 304 tons, much the same as most other vessels in the trade, she was 100½ feet long with a 26-foot beam and had a complement of 70 men. Originally barque-rigged but later altered to a full ship rig, whichever rig she carried she proved extremely fast and, in 1833, set the record from Calcutta to Singapore in 9 days 20 hours which stood for many years.

During her career, she often found herself racing against other notable opium clippers, most frequently with Red Rover but also with the Antonio Pereira, the latter match ending in tragedy when her adversary was lost without trace between Singapore and Macao in July 1838. In 1839, her reputation for speed even saw her in line for an Indian government mail contract but, at the last moment, her owner withdrew her as the financial reward was pitiful when compared to the profits from opium. When the so-called ‘Opium War’ with China began in 1840, Sylph and the other vessels in the opium fleet simply mounted more guns and carried on regardless; indeed, the Chinese were so desperate for opium that the authorities ‘turned a blind eye’ to the trade even though England and China were formally at war.

Stranded on a reef and very nearly wrecked off Singapore in 1835, her passengers, crew and most of her valuable cargo of 1,115 chests of opium were saved by the HEIC’s 18-gun sloop Clive, and Sylph herself was finally floated off and made it back to Singapore for repairs. Another narrow escape occurred in May 1840 when Sylph, in company with her sister the Cowasjee Family, was attacked by a large fleet of armed Chinchew junks north of Amoy and both only got away thanks to their superior speed. After another race with the fast little Poppy in 1841, an admiring newspaper correspondent wrote that, despite being a decade old, “The good old Sylph….still wears the belt for a clean pair of heels. Far prettier vessels have been built, but none can show her stern to the Sylph in a race….”.

Still turning in fast passages and record profits all through the 1840s, including the war years, Sylph left Hong Kong for Singapore on 11th July 1849, but was never seen again despite an extensive search. With no bad weather reported, it was assumed that she had fallen victim to pirates off the island of Hainan, which was subsequently confirmed by the master of a Chinese junk.

Port cathead missing; good overall original condition with wear commensurate with age - dust, one or two paint chips, poop deck with hairline crack foward of mizzen mast.