A model of the American whaling ship known as the Alice Mandell. This deep-hulled ship, built in 1850, based in New Bedford, Massachusetts hunted whales on the Pacific Ocean for three or four years at a time. The small boats were used to chase, harpoon, and subdue each whale. Then, the ship was “hove to,” or brought alongside the whale, and a working platform called a stage was hung out to disassemble the creature into saleable commodities.

Modelmaker Frederic A. Craven spent more than two years crafting the Alice Mandell whaling ship, drawing on his skills in sculpture, carpentry, metalworking and painting. Using a Higgins whaleship book as his guide, he reproduced each detail with patience and precision. Beyond his commission for the Museum, Craven was deeply familiar with marine transportation through his work in his La Porte, Indiana, workshop. A member of the Society for Nautical Research, he spent much of his career working under contract for the U.S. Navy, translating original ship blueprints into detailed miniature replicas.