This cased ship model of the Barque DAVID MORGAN is a very good example of the Port Glasgow shipbuilding by William Hamilton & Co. and the modelers employed by this renown firm. The steel sail/steam cargo vessel was built in 1891, directly for H. O. Morgan of Liverpool. She spread 246'L x 38'1" x 21'6" with a gross of 2550 tons.
Mirrors at 45 degree angles at both ends of the case allow one to look down her length coming or going, with the bow having a gilt trailboard leading to her name. A box aft of the captain's quarters has a nameboard as well, near the proliferation of portholes and angled cabin skylights. Other deck instrumentation and cabins are carved wood with black inked details, such as on the anchor cathead.
The cargo ship ran many routes, and Morgan sold her to Andrew Weir & Co. in 1896. Weir was a prominent Scottish banker who began investing heavily in steam shipping in 1885, evolving his company into the Bank Line of Liverpool until 1955. DAVID MORGAN only made it two years for the company, when on a run from Philadelphia to Nagasaki, Japan, with a cargo of case oil, she cleared the Delaware Breakwater and was never seen again. In this model, she sails and steams onward still.
