Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the bow, headrails, trail-board and a figurehead design for Gibraltar (1860), a 101-gun Second Rate screw two-decker.

The half-bust figurehead shows a male figure in naval uniform with bullion epaulettes and a sash from the right shoulder that goes under the wide lapel. The sitter is unidentified but it may represent Admiral the Earl (Richard) Howe, who relieved Gibraltar in October 1782 during its three-and-a-half year siege by Spanish and French forces. The sash may illustrate his Order of the Garter, awarded in June 1797 after he had pacified the Spithead mutineers, although it is on the wrong side. The carved key in the trail-board is part of the coat of arms for Gibraltar - being made up of a red triple-towered castle with a gold key suspended below on a gold cord from the main central portal.

This figurehead is very similar to Donegal (1858) and may represent a stock design for warships with a naval officer connection.

Signed by James P. Peake [Master Shipwright, Devonport Dockyard, 1859-]. The plan includes an Admiralty Letter Book number S6821. A pencil annotation ’Appd’ to the right of the figurehead indicates it is an approved design. The plan also includes measurement details for scaling up the design for the full-scale figurehead.