Figurehead in the form of a small polychrome bust of a young woman, possibly a personal portrait, from the wooden Genoese barque 'Indipendenza', lost off Scilly in 1881. The figure's hair is braided in side ringlets and the collar of the dress has a distinctive floral incised pattern. One of the ship's nameboards is also in the collection (FHD0016). On passage from Valparaiso with guano, hooves and horn, a crew of 14 and a pilot on board, 'Indipendenza' encountered dense fog and was thought to be 15 miles south-west of the islands. This estimate proved wrong when she struck four times on the Crims, north of the Bishop Rock. She was pulled off, only to drift back and remained lodged for about five minutes while the water rose to about six feet in her hold. She floated off and her master tried to bring her into St. Mary’s; she drifted and was finally wrecked on the Barrel of Butter, the western point of that island. Almost all her cargo was lost and St. Mary’s Pool was reported to be ‘thick with horns’.

‘Indipendenza’ details at time of wreck. Wooden barque of 837 tons, registered at Recco. Built by Peragallo, Sestri Ponente, 1875. Dimensions (in feet and tenths): 164.7 x 33.6 x 22.7. Owner: G. Marano, of Recco. Registered voyage: Valparaiso to Rotterdam. Cargo: general cargo. Master at loss: Fillipo Caffarena. Wrecked: 20 September 1881.