The Arts and Crafts of Napoleonic Prisoners of War

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During the Napoleonic Wars, 200,000 prisoners of war were brought to Britain with many remaining in captivity for up to eleven years.

These men had to occupy their time using their imagination and ingenuity. They are famous for their manufacture of bone ships, guillotines, automatons, and straw marquetry boxes and paintings. They helped to introduce the game of dominoes into Britain. Some prisoners produced oil and watercolours of the scenes around them. The prisoners at Portchester Castle constructed a theatre in the basement of the keep where they staged musicals, dramas, and comedies.

Other prisoners indulged in activities that conflicted with the law, such as the forgery of banknotes, manufacture of pornography, and the illicit manufacture of straw plait.

This talk tells the story of this prisoner of war activity, explaining why these models' helped men with post-traumatic stress after experiencing intense action on land or sea. It is illustrated with images of bone ships, automatons, domino boxes and forged banknotes; seen in museum collections around the country.

Arundells itself holds four remarkable bone ships made by prisoners from this period — part of a unique legacy of craftsmanship born from captivity.