Artésien - 2020 model

At the end of the Seven Years’ War, which resulted in the loss of a great many ships, the Duke of Choiseul (1719-1785),who had been appointed Secretary of State for War and the Navy in 1861, decided to rearm the fleet by drawing on funding from France’s cities and provinces. Eighteen vessels, including the Artésien, were built as a result of this patriotic fervour.

In the late 1770s, the Artésien was involved in the American War of Independence, taking part in the Battle of Ouessant

In 1781, the ship joined a squadron under the command of André de Suffern (1729-1788), which set sail for the Cape of Good Hope, where it lent support to a Dutch colony and took part in the victorious Battle of Porto Praya in the Cape Verdi Islands. After a long stopover at the Cape, Suffren’s squadron continued on its way along the Coromandel coast and then to Ceylon and, between 1782 and 1784, took part in a series of battles during the East Indies campaign.

The Artésien was decommissioned in 1784 and sailed to Rochefort the following year to act as a pontoon supporting a masting machine. It was demolished in 1792.

A model of the ship was created in Brest between 1764 and 1765, while it was being built.

When it was completed, the model was sent to Versailles at the request of the Count of Choiseul for use in the education of the Dauphin, the future Louis XVI, and his brothers. It was acquired for the Trianon collection in 1810 and is now conserved in the National Maritime Museum’s collections (Inv. no.13 MG 3).

A model maker by trade, Gérard Chenivesse undertook construction of the Artésien for his own pleasure, basing himself on an accurate account of the 18th-century model. Between his starting on the model in January 2010 and positioning of the final component in November 2019, some 10,000 hours of work were required.

For educational purposes, the choice of how to exhibit it settled on a “framework” hull on the starboard side and a “finished” hull on the port side. As he wanted the model (which naval model-making specialists have described as outstanding) to be on show to as many people as possible, Gérard Chenivesse donated it to the National Maritime Museum in 2020. It has since been exhibited at the musée national de la Marine in Port-Louis.