Glenlee Figurehead

In 1999 saw the installation of a beautiful new female figurehead on the bow of the SV Glenlee. The three masted barque was originally built at the Bay Yard of Anderson Rodger & Co of Port Glasgow in 1896, and now under the ownership of the Clyde Maritime Trust and moored beside the Riverside Museum.

For many years this vessel had been used by the Spanish Navy as a training ship for it’s Petty Officers, and renamed “GALATEA”, bought in 1992 by the Clyde Maritime Trust, she arrived back home in Scotland without a figurehead at all, fortunately for the Trust and the research team working on the restoration of this historic vessel, quite a lot of information was known about her original carving. It had been carried out by a local Glasgow carver John Roberts, being one of many sister figureheads Roberts created in the 1890’s, fortunately quite detailed historic black and white photographs had survived from the early 1900’s, showing the “GLENLEE” in her early life under British ownership, the original figurehead was thought by the Restoration Committee to have been lost, at around 1922 when she came into Spanish ownership, With a few years she was again re-sold, this time to the Societa Italiana Di Navigzzione, Stella Di Italia in Genoa, under the name “CIARSTELLA”. After consideration the local Scottish carver Marvin Elliot was commissioned to create a replica at his workshop on the Isle of Arran out of Western Cedar, working from a set of photos showing the original carving from a number of angles, plus aided by a small model Marvin carved to work out the proportions in 3D, after all the preparation work had been done Marvin was able to start work by the tradition method by building up several layers of cedar planks, the full size replica was to take just over four months to complete , spread over a full year period.
 
Once the full size carving was accomplished, she was moved down to Glasgow from the Isle of Arran to be painted before being installed on the beak. As the work was in it’s final stage news arrived in Glasgow that the original Figurehead had in fact survived, and was thought to be on display at the EL FERROL Naval Base in Spain. In due course the Spanish Admiralty sent the Trust a set of photos showing this particular carving, after careful inspection of the prints, it was quite apparent that the Trust were looking at a figurehead with the classic hallmark of John Roberts, If only this information had arrived several months earlier, how different the outcome would have been. Unfortunately it has not been possible to persuade the Spanish Naval Authorities to relinquish this historic relic, and send her back home to Glasgow, to be reunited with the “GLENLEE” it would appear that her stay over in Spain could well be permanent.

With a painted Smile & a wooden heart, a tradition of Ships Figureheads.
By Richard Hunter.