A Scottish mid 19^th century marine diorama of a barque, a three masted sailing ship, towed by a steam powered paddle tug, followed by a sailboat.

In a glazed mahogany case.

Width: 73 cm.

Depth: 36 cm.

Height: 47.5 cm.

Provenance: The library of the Stevenson Family, Edinburgh.

The Stevenson family, Scottish engineers and lighthouse builders. For over one hundred and fifty years Robert Stevenson and his descendants designed most of Scotland’s Lighthouses.

Robert Stevenson, (8 June 1772 – 12 July 1850) was a Scottish civil engineer, and designer and builder of lighthouses. His works include the Bell Rock Lighthouse. In 1797, he was appointed engineer to the Northern Lighthouse Board. Stevenson served as the engineer to the Northern Lighthouse Board until 1842 – nearly fifty years. During that time he designed numerous lighthouses and oversaw their construction and the addition of later improvements to them.

Three of Stevenson’s sons became engineers: David, Thomas and Alan Stevenson.

For more information on the Stevenson family see the website of the Northern Lighthouse Board: https://www.nlb.org.uk/history/stevenson-engineers/