May 27 - London witnessed an unusual heavy lift recently when a replica of Lord Nelson's ship Victory, set inside a giant bottle and made by artist Yinka Shonibare, became the latest addition to the fourth plinth in historic Trafalgar Square.
As the photo below shows, the 31 sails are set, the ensigns and the signal flags are flying, and the largest ship in a bottle ever made has now landed on the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square.
The ship is a remarkably faithful tribute to the admiral whose monument overshadows it, although it looks like a giant pun on millions of seaside souvenirs.
The model is a 1/30th replica of Nelson's flagship Victory, on which he died during the battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. It has, like the original, 37 sails, with 31 set as on the battle day for a light wind. It carries 80 cannons, on deck and almost invisible below deck, and the materials are traditional oak and hardwood, brass, twine and canvas.
The model, unveiled on the eve of Africa Unity Day, is the latest in the procession of temporary installations which have made the empty plinth, originally intended to hold a sombre bronze general like the others in the square, one of the most spectacular and popular display spaces in Britain for contemporary art.
