Lucky Scylla / Web Page / COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE by Martin Cooney / For Sale

Posted on July 21, 2025February 28, 2026 by Martin Cooney, Stone Sculptor

COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE

Carved by MARTIN COONEY

Lucky Scylla / $6,000 / The Liberty Collection / Colorado Yule Marble

32 x 9 x 6.5″ / 54.8lbs / SN250503

Currently Displayed at The Martin Cooney STONEWORKS

121 Liberty Street, Council Grove, Kansas 66846

Please email martincooneysculptor@gmail.com for purchase information

A handcrafted marble bowl in the shape of a sleek ship, made from Colorado Yule Marble, featuring a glossy white finish with subtle veining.

Lucky Scylla

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‘Lucky Scylla’ is a carving that has been on my mind for quite some time – years, actually – ever since the passing of my father many years ago: the great James Parker Cooney. Jim Cooney to one and all. Very few people holding any position of importance, be it in local government, the clergy, law enforcement, newsprint, local radio, business or those simply interested in interesting characters in general, had no idea who my dad was. First and foremost, he was the proud bandmaster of the very accomplished Preston Salvation Army Band, the love of his life.

A well-carved marble sculpture titled 'Lucky Scylla', showcasing a sleek, angular design that represents the hull of a ship, with subtle streaks visible in the marble.

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Please click on a photo to enlarge.

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Black and white photograph of a young man in military uniform, standing in front of a window with patterned curtains.

Although not tall, my dad was a fairly formidable amateur boxer at a very young age – daring even to venture his pugilist skills into the formidable territory of the far North East of England, or Geordieland, as it is called. And anyone familiar with that part of the world will wince at the thought of heading that way in order to actually get into the ring with one of them… Geordies, that is. He is certainly the only man I ever knew who did, that’s for sure. He taught me lots of things: Walk tall, walk straight and look the world right in the eye, as the song goes – one of his favorites. His knowledge of jazz, classical, brass band, big band and opera was encyclopedic, often scoring higher on the popular music quizzes on TV and radio, with instant answers shot out before the ‘experts’ could focus their minds.

A black and white portrait of a young man in military uniform, smiling and seated, wearing a hat with an insignia.

In his later years he discovered he was something of a genius when it came to teaching young children to play music; luring them in by whirling a hose pipe above his head whilst playing some popular tune through a mouthpiece attached to one end. Musically educated at one of the finest musical academies in Britain – that of The Royal Marines’ Sandhurst – he spent the entire six years of World War Two (yes, six: 39 to 45) in uniform and away from home and all that he loved. Volunteering at just Seventeen, long before the draft, he served the whole stint: from the shores of Atlantic Coast America to the steaming tropical heat of Japan … India … the Mediterranean, North Sea and most formidable of all, the notorious Russian Convoys, where sinkings and casualties defied comprehension.

He smashed ice off the frozen rails to stall the possibility of his ship capsizing under the top-heavy weight that would have accumulated if left unchecked. And when he wasn’t doing that, he was locked into below deck bulkheads manning the back up sonar, tracing U-boats, acknowledging sinkings and praying to stay alive. He used to tell me about the sinkings … “you could hear the explosion, then wait until the thud”. The “thud” was the bulkheads crumpling under the mammoth pressure exerted on them as they went down, and down, and down into the icy abyss.

Black and white photograph of the HMS Scylla, a Dido-class light cruiser, showcasing its distinctive camouflage patterns while afloat in calm waters.

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A marble sculpture resembling the hull of a ship, smoothly carved with subtle veining, displayed against a dark background.

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So, a tribute of some kind to my father has been lurking on my mind for quite some time, and as soon as this well-proportioned, regular, long rectangular block of Liberty Collection marble popped out I thought ‘this is it!’ Of course, I could immediately see it; his favorite ship, the ‘Lucky Scylla’ – he loved it, believe me. Right at the end of his life, on one of my last walks with him, arm in arm, he gave me a tour of it. Clear as day it was to him, even though glaucoma had taken away his sight, along with much of his grasp on reality, many years ago. “There’s Chalky White’ – so called because he was a plasterer before the war – there’s so and so, and so and so… pointing to them as if I was about to be introduced. They all had their places, their jobs to do, locked in that tiny hole, deep in the heart of a warship that if it wasn’t “lucky” had practically no chance of coming out of the war still afloat. The Scylla eventually struck a mine shortly after the D-Day landings but limped back to Britain and was only scrapped in 1950. Lucky, indeed.

A detailed model of the HMS Scylla, a Dido-class light cruiser, displayed in a glass case. The ship features intricate designs, including turrets and masts, showcasing its historic military design.

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Perhaps my intention to carve a tribute to my dad’s favorite ship: A Dido-class light Cruiser dates back as far as when I was a young boy and keen on making plastic models of planes, sailing ships and WW2 warships. I was assembling such a kit when my dad walked over and exclaimed, “Let me look at that”. “Well, I never, it’s The Scylla!”. Unbeknownst to me, I had been quietly assembling the luckiest ship in the fleet – and as I was later to learn, in searching about the ship recently; unofficially, “The Happiest Ship in the Fleet”.

So, you see, there is a great deal of history that comes with this carving. In terms of proportions, it is fairly accurate, but what I wanted to portray was the shear steadfast determination of this fast and maneuverable Cruiser (https://www.world-war.co.uk/scylla_story.php). Thus, it was often to be found patrolling the outreaches of the flotillas that crossed the Mediterranean, North Atlantic and Artic Seas, laying mines and trying to shoot enemy planes out of the skies with its powerful anti-aircraft guns. Narrow at the helm and strong at the bow, rammings were not uncommon for these types of vessels during close contact high sea battles.

My dad didn’t speak much about this; none of the men returning from World War Two service did. They were actually told – instructed – not to reveal any of the harsh details of the events they had endured, under threat of punishment, apparently. But, over half a century later, he and many others did eventually speak up. Though, sadly, much of the world wasn’t, by that time, in a mood to listen. Now, they are all gone. Heroes, every last one of them.

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Consequently, the carving of ‘Lucky Scylla’ went off with almost military precision. No shocks and no surprises. The uniformity of its design threw up a few challenges, because I am not used to being hemmed in by such matters. But a compromise was reached, allowing for a few artistic curves where there were perhaps none on the real ship. And of course, this is just the hull, so you’ll have to imagine the rest. But, what a hull eh? Sleek, demure, sly, cunning and possibly deadly if you were a member of a prowling U-boat crew, or a shrieking dive bomber.

‘Lucky Scylla is returned to her original place in the Liberty Collection Slab.

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Please click on a photo to enlarge.

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I’ve always been fascinated by ships, and particularly their hulls. In carvings such as ‘Magellan’, ‘Long Boat’, ’Beached Boat’, ‘Sailboat Tempest’ and a few others, my maritime fascination becomes immediately apparent. Growing up in England, boats are moored all around – a coastline is never more than fifty miles away, and in my case, being raised in Preston, Lancashire, in the North West of England, we had a fully functioning port right in the middle of town. Liverpool was just up the road, as was Fleetwood, which as the name suggests, was home to the fleet of deep-sea trawlers arriving back from the icy shoals of the North Atlantic with some of the most delicious white fish imaginable. My mum used to take me to the fish market in Preston, where the gruff men in long black aprons would make the fish dart out of the ice and attack me from all angles – it never got old.

But even here, in landlocked Kansas, right in the exact middle of America, there are boats afloat on the local lakes, so I often get to see them bouncing and bobbing along the shoreline, perhaps pulling a skier, or trailing fishing lines, or just a family having fun. And in all reality, you are never really very far from a hull of some kind or another virtually wherever you are – except for the kind of powerful, speedy, armored and versatile variety portrayed here, with my humble tribute to a great, great warship: HMS Scylla. God bless all who sailed in her.

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On a final note: feel free to display ‘Lucky Scylla’ with all the verve and panache that comes to mind. If my dad had one universal trait that he was known for it was his witty sense of humor. He would love the idea that his beloved Scylla was reborn through a marble carving with perhaps a magnum of champagne atop a mound of ice. He wasn’t fond of seafood, but I am sure the picture of a dozen oysters, a lobster, perhaps, or better still, a prime beef steak would one day sit atop his Scylla would raise a smile. In fact, he told me more than once that, in order to get through the endless ordeal of war on the high seas, the men would simply sit and regale one another with their ideal menus, which of course would be eagerly devoured as soon as the retched hostilities ceased, and they would be home… for good.

As with all my Collection Series Sculpture, ‘Lucky Scylla’s Serial Number along with my Mark is carved and engraved upon the underside of her base. And as with all of my Hand Carved Marble Bowls, she is protected by an invisible impregnating Italian sealant so that water simply rolls around on her surface. This is, by the way, one tough bowl indeed. Heavier than most of my bowl, for her size, but still easily picked up and moved around. So, don’t keep her too long in one place, let her cruise through your world and impress all who set eyes upon her. Put her in a sunny window and she will light up in a blaze of subtle hues and exhibit her hidden translucent qualities. A discreet spotlight will serve the same purpose. Take her indoors or outside, on the patio, in the kitchen, entranceway, bathroom or anywhere you wish. She even comes in a protective box, so if you feel inclined you can store her or transport her at your will. Just take care of her. And who knows, she may even bring you a bit of her good luck and famed happiness, and as ‘Lucky Scylla’ and the widely proclaimed ‘The Happiest Ship in the Fleet’, she just well might.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Scylla_(98) https://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-06CL-Scylla.htm https://www.world-war.co.uk/scylla_story.php