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Did you know? The National Maritime Museum is home to Yinka Shonibare’s Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle

Tuesday, April 4, 2023 - 09:15

The Yinka Shonibare's Nelson's Ship in a Bottle at the National Maritime Museum is one of the most photographed artworks in London and is an incredibly detailed (80 cannons and 37 sails set) scaled down version of the flagship Nelson died on during the Battle of Trafalgar.

Each sail is richly patterned, inspired by Indonesian batik, mass produced by Dutch traders and sold in West Africa. Today these designs are associated with African dress and identity.

The characteristic bright colours and abstract symmetries of Dutch Wax fabric have accrued many complex, often ambivalent associations – with colonialism, industrialisation, emigration, cultural appropriation, and the invention (and reinvention) of tradition – all of which are foregrounded in Shonibare’s work. 

Commissioned for the Fourth Plinth project by the GLA, it was unveiled in May 2010 and now has a permanent home at the National Maritime Museum by the Sammy Ofer Wing entrance.