Stunning pair of antique paperweights or desk accessories in the shape of the mythological dolphin from the Italian flagship Amerigo Vespucci.

Stunning pair of antique paperweights or desk accessories in the shape of the mythological dolphin from the Italian flagship Amerigo Vespucci.

On the bottom is engraved "NAVE VESPUCCI"

For the Romans, the dolphin was a mythological symbol of good luck and protection at sea.

Italy 1930s-1940s

Size: 7 cm H x 4 cm L x 2 cm W

The tall ship “Amerigo Vespucci” is the oldest active military vessel in the Italian Navy. Its motto, “Not who begins, but he who perseveres,” inspired by the words of Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian polymath of the Renaissance, emphasizes the importance of seeing projects through to completion.

Designed and launched by the royal shipyard of Castellammare di Stabia on 22 February 1931, the Amerigo Vespucci was commissioned as a training ship in June of that year. It embarked on its first training voyage through Northern Europe in July 1931. The ship boasts three main decks (upper, middle, and tween) and two superstructures (the forecastle and the aft castle). At the bow, a gilded bronze figurehead depicts Amerigo Vespucci, the 15th-century Italian explorer and navigator who lent his name to the “New World.”

Since 1893 cadets of the Italian Naval Academy had been honing their skills on a sailing ship (also named Amerigo Vespucci), a former cruiser that entered service in 1885 before being adapted as a training vessel.

As the operational life of the first Vespucci neared its end in 1925, the decision was made to construct two new training ships ( Amerigo Vespucci and Cristoforo Colombo ) designed in the style of late 18th/early 19th-century vessels.

The Cristoforo Colombo entered service in 1928 and served as a training ship until 1943. After World War II, it was handed over to the Soviet Union as part of war reparations.