SCA is excited to share some example screenshots of a 3D model created recently of the Samuel Cunard portrait bust which was donated as part of the David Powers collection.

Earlier this month members of the SCA team, along with two of our Student Partners (Val Capewell and Sufya Zaidani) had the opportunity to observe and take part in the creation of the 3D model using photogrammetry. Undertaken by JR Peterson from the School of Histories, Languages and Cultures, it was the first time that an archival object from SCA had undergone the process and we were very impressed with the results.

Regular followers of our blog may remember reading about Charles Francis Hopkinson who was employed by Cunard as a commercial artist during the early-mid 20^th century. The posts focused on records within the Cunard archive that highlighted his work – from the design of the front cover of the Cunard staff magazine, to illustrations of the ‘Green Goddess’ (Caronia II).

Communication with his family led to Hopkinson’s identification within a photograph working on a portrait bust of Samuel Cunard in 1950 to coincide with Cunard’s 110^th anniversary. Although the portrait bust in SCA’s collection is a copy of the original, it is of good enough quality that during the photogrammetry process we were able to see Hopkinson’s name inscribed on the underneath of Samuel Cunard’s collar.  

We hope that readers enjoy these unique views of Samuel Cunard and we look forward to sharing further updates on the Cunard archive and the Cunard Associated Deposits.