Post by Administrator on Dec 7, 2013 0:31:10 GMT
'Restoring The Merchant Navy Memorial'
In the wall at the southern end of the ship’s dry dock is a large sculptural piece. This is the memorial to the Merchant Navy. When it was decided that the ship would find a permanent new home here in Greenwich as a museum, it was felt that Cutty Sark would also be a fitting place to commemorate the men of the Merchant Navy.
The memorial was designed by the sculptor Maurice Lambert. Born in Paris in 1901, Lambert began his art training through his apprenticeship to the sculptor Francis Derwent Wood. He was a sculptor in bronze, stone, wood, concrete and glass of figurative and abstract subjects.
By the time the ship closed in 2006 the memorial had sadly become largely forgotten and was in need of restoration. Cast in concrete from Lambert’s designs and moulds the memorial is based on the Star Of India and features a stylised wreath depicting the national flowers of the UK. The memorial has inscriptions on each side which read….
“Here to commemorate an era the Cutty Sark has been preserved as a tribute to the ships and men of the Merchant Navy in the days of sail. They mark our passage as a race of men Earth will not see such ships as these again”
“In memory of those whose service in the Merchant Navy helped to enlarge the livelihood of Britain and protect the freedom of the British Commonwealth of Nations”
LINK
In the wall at the southern end of the ship’s dry dock is a large sculptural piece. This is the memorial to the Merchant Navy. When it was decided that the ship would find a permanent new home here in Greenwich as a museum, it was felt that Cutty Sark would also be a fitting place to commemorate the men of the Merchant Navy.
The memorial was designed by the sculptor Maurice Lambert. Born in Paris in 1901, Lambert began his art training through his apprenticeship to the sculptor Francis Derwent Wood. He was a sculptor in bronze, stone, wood, concrete and glass of figurative and abstract subjects.
By the time the ship closed in 2006 the memorial had sadly become largely forgotten and was in need of restoration. Cast in concrete from Lambert’s designs and moulds the memorial is based on the Star Of India and features a stylised wreath depicting the national flowers of the UK. The memorial has inscriptions on each side which read….
“Here to commemorate an era the Cutty Sark has been preserved as a tribute to the ships and men of the Merchant Navy in the days of sail. They mark our passage as a race of men Earth will not see such ships as these again”
“In memory of those whose service in the Merchant Navy helped to enlarge the livelihood of Britain and protect the freedom of the British Commonwealth of Nations”
LINK
