A Large Model of the Scandinavian American Line 'United States', Circa 1908

Marine Paintings, Ship Models and Maritime Objects from the Collection of the Seamen's Institute of New York, 15 State Street New York, New York 

Christie's, New York, February 12, 1985, lot 187

The steamship captured by this model, called SS United States, once connected Oslo (then known as Kristiania) to New York on routes operated by the Scandinavian American Line. Like her sister ships SS Hellig Olav and SS Oscar II, United States was built by the shipyards of Alexander Stephen and Sons in Scotland and propelled by twin screws, traveling at 15 knots. United States would have been a popular choice for emigrants from Norway, Sweden, and the northern regions of Denmark, bypassing ports in France or England to sail directly between New York and Scandinavia. United States was in operation from 1903 until 1935, when the vessel was damaged by fire in Copenhagen and sold for scrap.

This outstanding model gifted in circa 1955 to the Seamen’s Church Institute of New York and New Jersey by King Frederick IX of Norway, is magnificently detailed, including all gold-plated bronze fittings, rigging, masts, cargo booms, lifeboats, life preservers, and wooden decks, as well as its original mahogany case. The model is rendered in 1:45 scale and sits at more than ten and a half feet long, providing an exceptionally rare opportunity to observe in such detail an early-twentieth-century steamship.