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Draft:Figurehead of HMS Blazer (1834)

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Overview

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The figurehead of HMS Blazer, designed and carved in 1834, depicts a sun with human-like facial features. It was fitted to the wooden three-gun paddle sloop before its launch from Chatham Dockyard in the same year.[1]

Brief Ship’s History

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HMS Blazer spent time in the Mediterranean before being appointed for service in the West Indies and West India Station in 1840[2], before being converted into a survey vessel in 1843. It then spent time in Barbados, Demerara, Grenada and St. Vincent running mail and accompanying the Royal Artillery back to Britain. It then spent time in the North Sea undertaking surveying duties.[3]

Towards the end of the 1840s, HMS Blazer was used in the suppression of the Atlantic slave trade, working for the West Africa Squadron and capturing three known Brazilian slaving vessels: Atrevida (1848), Esparanca (1849) and Finale (1849).[4]

The ship was broken up at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1853.[5]

Figurehead

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The figurehead of HMS Blazer was carved by Robert Hall of Rotherhithe, after he submitted no less than five designs for the work from which the Surveyor of the Navy could choose.[6]

No single design for Rotherhithe’s work has survived, but it is noted in the Admiralty records that he was allowed £6.10.0 for his efforts (approximately £665 today).[7]

The carving represents the name of the vessel through a carved sun, complete with rays of light, and a human-like face. It is the third vessel to carry the name Blazer, the first being one of a group of gunboats built in the 1790s alongside other names such as Boxer and Bruiser; it is claimed that the vessels were named after a pack of hunting hounds[8] owned by the First Naval Lord, Admiral Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham. The sun, therefore, is an unusual choice for the figurehead.

It is currently painted gold with bronze accents on the eyebrows, eyes and lips, and features in the figurehead collection held at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth.[9]

The carving itself does not appear in the 1911 Admiralty Catalogue, despite being included in the Portsmouth Museum catalogue edition of the same year[10]; this is likely due to the fact that it was not recognised as a typical figurehead, which usually featured a famous fictional or real-life figure particularly during this period.

References

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  1. ^ Pulvertaft, David (2009). The Warship Figureheads of Portsmouth (Illustrated ed.). UK: The History Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0752450766.
  2. ^ Pulvertaft, David (2009). The Warship Figureheads of Portsmouth (Illustrated ed.). UK: The History Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0752450766.
  3. ^ "HMS Blazer". sites.rootsweb.com. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
  4. ^ "HMS Blazer". sites.rootsweb.com. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
  5. ^ Pulvertaft, David (2009). The Warship Figureheads of Portsmouth (Illustrated ed.). UK: The History Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0752450766.
  6. ^ Pulvertaft, David (2009). The Warship Figureheads of Portsmouth (Illustrated ed.). The History Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0752450766.
  7. ^ "Inflation calculator". www.bankofengland.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
  8. ^ Pulvertaft, David (2009). The Warship Figureheads of Portsmouth (Illustrated ed.). UK: The History Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0752450766.
  9. ^ "Collections | National Museum of the Royal Navy". www.nmrn.org.uk. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
  10. ^ Pulvertaft, David (2009). The Warship Figureheads of Portsmouth (Illustrated ed.). UK: The History Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0752450766.





References

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