When the iconic clipper Cutty Sark reopens next month in London, it will include a gallery of historic figureheads, according to The Guardian.
The largest collection of historic figureheads in the world, assembled in the early 20th century by a collector of merchant shipping memorabilia, will be displayed together for the first time from April 26 when the clipper ship Cutty Sark reopens in Greenwich, south London, next month after a five-year, nearly $80 million restoration after fire damage.
Many of the figureheads are more than 200 years old. All were collected by Sydney Cumbers, who gave the collection to the Cutty Sark in 1953, in memory of Britain's merchant seamen and the Little Ships that went to the rescue of the army at Dunkirk in World War II. There was never space to show them all together, and dozens remained in store or were loaned to other museums. Now they will be on view in the new exhibition space created in the dry dock beneath the hull.