A shipyard model of the liner Nippon Moru, dated 1898

A shipyard model of the liner Nippon Moru, dated 1898. This shipbuilder’s model has a pink hull, black topsides and two black funnels.  It is executed in meticulous detail with two cabin areas with white roofs, six lifeboats on davits, brass railings, a bowsprit and the name Nippon Moru in gilt on the bow.  The whole is raised on four turned brass supports and set in a mahogany and glass case, on a later separate mahogany stand.  English, 1898.

Footnote: There were three ships with the Maru suffix, Nippon, America and Hong Kong, all were completed in 1898.  Asano Sōichirō (1848-1930), was a Japanese businessman responsible for founding a number of companies, including what became today’s Sapporo Breweries, Toa Construction Corporation, Oki Electric Industry and Taiheiyo Cement (formerly Asano Cement).  He decided he wanted a shipping company too. Up until this time, Japanese shipping companies concentrated on local traffic with China. However, he intended to compete for trade to North America, India and Europe. He founded Tōyō Kisen in July 1896 and ordered three vessels which had to have the clean, sharp lines of clipper ships, from the Wigham Richardson shipyards, Newcastle upon Tyne.