Glen Park' Figurehead
1897-01-01/1897-12-31
South Australian Maritime Museum
Port Adelaide, Australia
The figurehead from Glen Park depicts a woman with dark brown hair, pulled back in a chignon. She wears a yellow dress with a green, short-sleeved blazer. Her right arm is bent across her chest and her left arm is by her side.
Figureheads, carved wooden sculptures which ornamented the bow of a sailing ship, embodied the 'soul' of the vessel and were believed to offer the crew protection and safe passage on the seas. The South Australian Maritime Museum has a collection of seventeen ship’s figureheads-the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. The figureheads were sourced and acquired by Vernon Smith, the Honorary Curator of the Port Adelaide Nautical Museum (from which the current museum evolved) over a period of fifty years. He thoroughly documented his search and as result, most of the figureheads are well provenanced with a recorded chain of ownership. The Glen Park figurehead belonged to a key player in South Australia's grain trade and became an iconic part of the landscape at remote Coffin Bay. It is an evocative reminder of the perils of South Australia's shipwreck coast.
- Title: Glen Park' Figurehead
- Date Created: 1897-01-01/1897-12-31
- Location: Port Adelaide, South Australia
- Provenance: Glen Park' was built at Port Glasgow by A. Rodger and Company in 1897. The hull was made of steel, but had a traditional wooden bowsprit where the figurehead was secured. John Roberts of Port Glasgow was commissioned to carve the ship’s figurehead. Glen Park weighed 1799 tons and originally sailed under the British flag. In March 1900, Glen Parkcarried a cargo of coal to Capetown, South Africa and arrived in South Australia in early December. Once in Semaphore, the Glen Park continued its voyage into Spencers Gulf to pick up a cargo of wheat, which was bound for Algoa Bay, South Africa. On the morning of 31 January 1901, just as the vessel was rounding the coast heading towards the northern Gambier Islands, Glen Park struck rock. Nothing could be done to try to save the ship. The crew deployed their lifeboats and watched as the Glen Park disappeared into the ocean. The Lawrie brothers discovered the figurehead washed up on the beach at Thuuna, near Tumby Bay south of Port Lincoln, South Australia. Their father, Mr. Lawrie, placed the figurehead in a chaff bag and stored it in his shed. The figurehead was later sold and displayed in a garden at Coffin Bay where it remained for over 40 years. It was donated to the Port Adelaide Nautical Museum in 1986 and is now on display at the South Australian Maritime Museum.
- Rights: History Trust of South Australia, CC-0, photographer: Kylie Macey
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