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Image Not Available for GWRTHEYRN CASTLE ship's figurehead
GWRTHEYRN CASTLE ship's figurehead
Image Not Available for GWRTHEYRN CASTLE ship's figurehead

GWRTHEYRN CASTLE ship's figurehead

Date1870s
Object number00047422
NameFigurehead
MediumWood, paint
DimensionsOverall: 1970 x 560 x 490 mm, 64000 g
ClassificationsVessels and fittings
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from the Trustees of the Sydney Training Depot
DescriptionPainted wooden figurehead from the sailing ship GWYTHEYRN CASTLE.HistoryThe carved figure is in the form of a woman wearing crown, with one hand on her heart, clutching a red and yellow disc. On either side are painted carved scrolls. The GWYTHEYRN CASTLE, built in Wales in 1876, was an iron barque which traded to Australia in the late 19th century and finished its days in Sydney from 1923 as a coal hulk. The figurehead was probably removed at this time. It then formed part of the collection of the Len E Forsythe Museum, at the Sydney Training Depot on Snapper Island until 2005 and was repainted by apprentice shipwrights from Sydney Technical College around 1980. A photograph in the ANMM Hood collection (00024971) shows the figurehead displayed at Snapper Island in the mid-1930s. SignificanceAustralian examples of ship's figureheads and bow decorations are extremely rare.