A mid 20th century shipyard engineers model of The Eryx II, a two masted square sail schooner commissioned by Comte Robert‐Jean de Vogüé and the last yacht of this type designed by Charles Arthur Nicholson. With original pen and ink annotation for the plating delineation etc. Visit The Study to find out more about the extraordinary life of Robert‐Jean de Vogüé.
Dimensions: 41 inches/104 cm (length) x 14 inches/35.5 cm (height) x 4¼ inches/11 cm (width).
Having married Moët heiress Ghislaine d’Eudeville, Comte Robert‐Jean de Vogüé was managing director, between 1930 and 1972, of Moët & Chandon, the largest champagne concern in France. He developed an outstanding marketing policy and in 1936 created the first commercially available brut prestige cuvée, now the most famous of the Champagne brands, Dom Pérignon. During the WWII occupation of France, de Vogüé was heavily involved in the activities of the French Resistance, secretly heading its political wing in the eastern part of France.
In 1930, de Vogüé took ownership of the Camper and Nicholson yacht, Barbara, a yawl originally built in 1923 and designed by Charles Ernest Nicholson. He then commissioned two new Camper and Nicholson designs: the 70' (length on deck) ketch Eryx, which he bought in 1959, followed by the 82ft 6in auxiliary schooner, Eryx II, in 1964. In 1968, at the age of 72, he sailed Eryx II around the world.
