Full Rigged 4 Masted Scottish Ship in a Bottle. Appears to be a variant of a frigate or early sloop-of-war, flying the flag of the Royal Scots Navy (1603-1707), as well as four nautical flags above on the jigger mast: H (pilot on board), J (vessel on fire keep clear), T (trawling), and V (require assistance). 

Size: 11 1/2 X 4 X 4 in. 

#7096 . 

An impossible bottle is a bottle containing an object that appears too large to fit through the bottle’s mouth. The ship in a bottle is the most iconic type of impossible bottle. Other common objects include fruits, matchboxes, decks of cards, tennis balls, racketballs, Rubik’s Cubes, padlocks, knots, and scissors. These may be placed inside the bottle using various mechanisms, including constructing an object inside the bottle from smaller parts, using a small object that expands or grows inside the bottle, or molding the glass around the object. There are two ways to place a model ship inside a bottle. The simpler way is to rig the masts of the ship and raise it up when the ship is inside the bottle. Masts, spars, and sails are built separately and then attached to the hull of the ship with strings and hinges so the masts can lie flat against the deck. The ship is then placed inside the bottle and the masts are pulled up using the strings attached to the masts. The hull of the ship must still be able to fit through the opening. Bottles with minor distortions and soft tints are often chosen to hide the small details of the ship such as hinges on the masts. Alternatively, with specialized long-handled tools, it is possible to build the entire ship inside the bottle. The oldest surviving ships in a bottle were crafted by Giovanni Biondo at the end of the 18th Century, two of which reproduce Venetian ships of the line. These are quite large and expensive models, as the bottles are almost a foot-and-a-half long and are intended to be displayed upside down, with the neck resting on a small pedestal. Ships in bottles became more popular as folk art in the second half of the 19th Century, after the introduction of cheap, mass-produced bottles made with clear glass. A significant collection of ships in bottles is the Dashwood-Howard collection held by the Merseyside Maritime Museum. They remain popular collector’s items, and older and more elaborate works, particularly of famous military vessels, can command supreme prices at auctions.