Editing Queen Elizabeth 2 (section)

===Artwork and artefacts===
[[File:QE2 bell.jpg|thumb|''QE2'' bell on display on {{MS|Queen Elizabeth}}]]
The designers included numerous pieces of artwork within the public rooms of the ship, as well as maritime artefacts drawn from Cunard's long history of operating merchant vessels.

[[Althea Wynne]]'s sculpture of the ''White Horses'' of the Atlantic Ocean was installed in the Mauretania Restaurant.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/art-obituaries/9082747/Althea-Wynne.html Althea Wynne (obituary)] in [[The Daily Telegraph]] dated 14 February 2012, online at telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2012</ref> Two bronze busts were installed—one of Sir [[Samuel Cunard]] outside the Yacht Club, and one of Queen [[Elizabeth II]] in the Queen's Room. Four life-size statues of human forms—created by sculptor Janine Janet in marine materials like shell and coral, representing the four elements—were installed in the Princess Grill. A frieze designed by Brody Nevenshwander, depicting the words of [[T. S. Eliot]], Sir [[Francis Drake]], and [[John Masefield]], was in the Chart Room. The Midships Lobby housed a solid silver model of ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' made by Asprey of Bond Street in 1975, which was lost until a photograph found in 1997 led to the discovery of the model itself. It was placed on ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' in 1999.

Three custom-designed tapestries were commissioned from [[Helena Hernmarck]] for the ship's launch, depicting the Queen as well as the launch of the ship. These tapestries were originally hung in the Quarter Deck "D" Stairway, outside the Columbia Restaurant. They were originally made with golden threads, but much of this was lost when they were incorrectly cleaned during the 1987 refit. They were subsequently hung in the "E" stairway and later damaged in 2005.

There are numerous photographs, oils, and pastels of members of the [[British Royal Family|Royal Family]] throughout the vessel.

The ship also housed items from previous Cunard ships, including both a brass relief plaque with a fish motif from the first {{RMS|Mauretania|1906}} and an Art-Deco bas-relief titled ''Winged Horse and Clouds'' by Norman Foster from {{RMS|Queen Elizabeth}}. There were also a vast array of Cunard postcards, porcelain, flatware, boxes, linen, and [[Lines Bros]] Tri-ang Minic model ships. One of the key pieces was a replica of the [[figurehead]] from Cunard's first ship {{RMS|Britannia}}, carved from [[Quebec]] yellow pine by [[Cornwall|Cornish]] sculptor Charles Moore and presented to the ship by [[Lloyd's of London]].

On the Upper Deck sits the silver Boston Commemorative Cup, presented to ''Britannia'' by the City of Boston in 1840. This cup was lost for decades until it was found in a pawn shop in Halifax, Nova Scotia. On "2" Deck was a bronze entitled ''Spirit of the Atlantic'' that was designed by Barney Seale for the second {{RMS|Mauretania|1938}}. A large wooden plaque was presented to ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' by [[First Sea Lord]] Sir [[John Fieldhouse, Baron Fieldhouse|John Fieldhouse]] to commemorate the ship's service as a Hired Military Transport (HMT) in the [[Falklands War]].

There was also an extensive collection of large-scale models of Cunard ships located throughout ''Queen Elizabeth 2''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.magwa.co.uk/qe2/qe2prt01.htm |title=Interiors of QE2 following The Cunard Heritage Trail in part |publisher=Magwa.co.uk |access-date=10 May 2012}}</ref>

Over the years the ship's collection was added to. Among those items was a set of antique Japanese armour presented to ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' by the Governor of [[Kagoshima]], Japan, during her 1979 world cruise, as was a [[Josiah Wedgwood|Wedgwood]] vase presented to the ship by Lord Wedgwood.

Throughout the public areas were also silver plaques commemorating the visits of every member of the Royal Family, as well as other dignitaries such as South African president [[Nelson Mandela]].

Istithmar acquired most of these items from Cunard when it bought ''QE2''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://qe2thelastcrossing.blogspot.com/2008/10/qe2-heritage-trail.html |title=QE2 Heritage Trail |access-date=25 May 2010|date=28 October 2008 }}</ref>