Item Description

Miniature fishing boat measures 3" long and 4" tall. Standing over a foot tall, the boat comes with a woodrack for easy display. Part of our large selection of handmade boatsand ships, these items are made in Sinop, Turkey. Browse our site formany other items including different colors/finishes of this magnet boat

Message from the creator... Ayhan Demir

Hello Everyone,

My name is Ayhan Demir. I was born in Sinop in 1950. I have developed this art inspired by the man called the Master then serving a sentence in Sinop Prison. The master then got out of the prison and opened a small workshop to produce small models. He used to sell these models at the harbour. I was very impressed by a model that I saw in his workshop and decided to improve this art.

I was continuing my education at the Art School opened in Sinop in 1950 when I started production at home. I was selling my models to the boat passengers to pay for my tuition. My carelessness caused me to lose my right small finger to the cutting machine. 

After my graduation at 15, I opened a small shop to build model ships. These models got the attention of American officers working in the American Radar Station during 1952 in Sinop, my ships were known in the States because of the officers working in Turkey. During those years I guess I sold around 8,000 models to America. If you add all the models I have made during the 50+ years end to end, it would reach from Sinop to Istanbul (nearly 630 km)

In years, Sinop found its place in Turkish tourism and this art of modelling remained a symbol of this beautiful city. This subject found its way in the written and visual media, I have great pride in introducing this art to my city. I have trained my son from his youth for modelling and he is going to take the flag from me to carry us further.