The lower hold houses the unique 'Long John Silver Collection' of merchant ship figureheads. These are the only remaining relics of many fine ships ~ from coastal steamers to the great tall ships themselves. The collection was amassed over a lifetime by a 'landlubber' with a passion for nauticalia ~ Sydney Cumbers (aka 'Long John Silver), who presented the collection to the Cutty Sark in 1953. Ships' figureheads represent a whole genre of popular art, and are wonderfully evocative of a vanished era.
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