Built in Sunderland in1879, the Screw Steamer MEDWAY was a product of the shipbuilding firm of S.P. AUSTIN & HUNTER in the district where the Tyne River meets the North Sea on England’s East Coast. Powered by a 99-horsepower compound engine built by Northeast Marine Engineering Company, the cargo ship also possessed two schooner-rig masts, and proved quite competent.
The model is very desirable, and it shows it in its highly unique half-round glass and carved display case, complete with hardware designed to flush mount the model on a wall. The masts are admiralty-style cut-aways, with just their beginnings showing. The decks come completely loaded with the working equipment necessary to run the large ship. The funnel is cut away as well, while there is a large vent next to the stack and one more in the middle of the small forecastle deck. Each deck and bridge is defined by fine carved ivory balustrades.
The model’s precise scale well represents the ship’s 226'L x 31'B x 15'8"D actual size. While the ship’s hull was built with four main bulkheads, the model is carved and owns fine gilded bow and stern decorations. Registered at the Port of London, the open bridge with wing bridges to each side would have offered spectacular views of the English Coasts and cities along the Tyne and Thames Rivers.
