Article: With royal approval the figurehead of HMS Queen Charlotte: earlier this year, a model for the figurehead of HMS Queen Charlotte, launched in 1790, was acquired by the Historic Dockyard, Chatham. Richard Hunter explains the importance of this carving, a design for one of the Royal Navy's last great figureheads, made in Chatham for Lord Howe's flagship in the war against France.

Earlier this year, a model of a ship's figurehead was sold at Bonhams in London, after 220 years hidden away from public view, its true significance as an icon of Britain's naval heritage unrecognised. (1) This small yet exquisitely carved limewood and gesso-covered model (Fig. 1) is the design for the full-length figurehead of HMS Queen Charlotte, launched on 15 April 1790 at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent. She was at the time the second-largest vessel in the British fleet.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Such models are rare. A number of letters in the Admiralty archives suggest that as well as sketches of proposed figureheads, models were also ...

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