Cranes were used on dockyards during the 18th and 19th centuries for raising and lowering the masts and yards of ships' rigging, as well as for lifting heavy weights.
This model of a crane belonged to the Cartagena dockyard which, together with the dockyards in La Carraca (Cádiz) and Ferrol, was a key site for building and maintaining the new 18th-century fleet.