REWA'S FIGUREHEAD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 110, 12 May 1930, Page 9

REWA'S FIGUREHEAD.

PRESENTED TO NAVAL DEPARTMENT.

ADDITION TO NATJTICAIi MUSEUM. VESSEL'S FATE UNDECIDED. To the collection of old ships' figureheads preserved in the Naval Yard at Devonport will shortly be added the handsome giantess that springs from the stem of the four-masted barque Rewa, the largest ■ British sailing ship still afloat. The figurehead is to be taken off this week. It is a female figure, clothed in flowing robes, the whole carved out of a single block of wood. Proportionate to the great 6ize of the vessel; the figure is nearly twice life size, and so, on close inspection, does not show the fine workmanship of smaller models. It is, however, a very imposing monument to the skill of the old wood carvers. The steadily-growing nautical museum at Devonport is the hobby of Commander Nelson Clover, naval officer in charge there. Several old figureheads have been mounted under shelter in the yard, along with a number of other relics. The latest addition to the collection is an anchor from the German warship Adler, brought back by H.M.s. Dunedin from Apia, where the Adler was wrecked in the great hurricane. The figurehead.of the great Rewa will lie a valuable exhibit. As the Alice A. Leigh she was "well known in most porta of the world, and took part in the grain races from San Francisco to Europe towards the end of last century. For many years past she has lain at anchor off Chelsea, and with every passing month the chances of her being recommissioned have grown less;. The Harbour Board recently asked the owners, Messrs. Geo. Scales, Ltd., of Wellington, to remove her for fear she should founder and endanger navigation, but her future is still indefinite.