21/08/2026
You may have seen this diorama of Elizabeth I reviewing her troops at Tilbury whilst walking around the museum, but did you know its fascinating history?
Otto Gottstein was a German enthusiast of Zinnfiguren - lead or tin flat figures.
Having fled N**i Germany, he settled in England and gathered a team of model makers, painters and costume designers to make 15 historical dioramas of battles throughout British history for display in the Royal United Services Institute in Whitehall. The head of this team was Denny C Stokes. Work began in the mid 1930s and was finished in 1936.
In 1968 the Royal United Services Institute closed down, and the dioramas sold on. Preferring the model to go to a museum than a private collection, Thurrock Museum was allowed to purchase the diorama at a heavy discount, on the condition that it always remain on display.
The location of some of the Gottstein dioramas are unknown, scattered around the country in small museums such as ours. Remarkably, five of them ended up in Canada.
In early 1973 Denny C Stokes got in contact with us to ask if the diorama was still in okay condition, and if he'd be able to see it. Luckily he didn't have to travel far as the reply from our curator at the time states that the diorama will soon be on TV on BBC Chronicle!
