Orbis are excited to start work on another figurehead, HMS Trincomalee, from the collection of The National Museum of the Royal Navy. Whilst the ship was launched in India in 1817, this figurehead was made in England in 1845 by Hellyer & Son, a historic workshop familiar to us as they carved the figureheads for HMS Defiance and HMS Sybille. Fortunately, Trincomalee is in a better state than we found Defiance. We have carried out paint analysis and paint removal trials and look forward to commencing the full conservation treatment next week.
We will be designing a mounting system to display the figurehead hanging from the wall of the main gallery at The National Museum of the Royal Navy in Hartlepool. It is wonderful to be able to see HMS Trincomalee docked at the museum in Hartlepool, and a great opportunity to see a (replica) figurehead in its original context on a ship. It is in fact the oldest warship still afloat in Europe.
The conservation project was made possible through grants from the ArtFund and The Friends of HMS Trincomalee.
