Member Model – Fred’s Fishing Boat Lottie

Painted around 1900, this watercolour sketch by artist Georges Chavignaud depicts the Bronte fishing boat Lottie, owned by Tom Joyce.

Chavignaud, who lived from 1865 to 1944, was born in France. In 1889 he emigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto, where he worked as a publishing company art director for many years. He painted mainly in watercolour and often depicted seashore scenes. This accurate painting displays his detailed knowledge of ships and boats.

In the second image it says:

“Modelmaker and Bronte Historical Society member Fred Couttts saw the watercolour of the Lottie and decided to build a radio-control model of the boat. The hull is 26″ in length, built to a scale 1 inch to the foot. Like the original boat, the model is built with clinker planking and bent ribs. The Building jig on which the hull was constructed can be see in the bottom of the photo to the left. Because of the original boat’s open cockpit and outboard rudder, Fred had some challenges in accommodating the equipment necessary to make the model operate by radio control. He hopes to launch the new Lottie in 2017,”