The year was 1883. The "Machine Age," spawned in Britain in the early part of the century, was running at full throttle. Steam was king and the mystifying force of electricity was in its infancy. The world's frontiers had been pushed back by the great explorers leaving only the desolate Polar caps uncharted. Expectations were high that the industrial revolution would continue to propel mankind into a second "pax Romana," free from strife and full of innovations the likes of which the world had not seen since ancient times.
It was against this backdrop that the graceful sailing ship EDINBURGH was launched in that year. Built by William Charland, Jr. she was a 3-masted barque of 203 1/2 feet in length launched in St. Joseph de Levis, Quebec, Canada. One of the last of a dying breed, she was totally dependent upon the whims of the wind as her motive force -- a millenniums old technology! Already, steamships were routinely demonstrating their superiority in speed and dependability over sail, logging record times on their Atlantic crossings.

Despite EDINBURGH's passé construction, her builders put their fine ship into service carrying cargo and passengers between Great Britain and the East coast of America. And they did so with one important and costly concession to tradition -- they saw fit to equip her with a full figurehead! The adornment of ships with figureheads could be traced back to Phoenician times when it was thought that evil spirits and hazards at sea could be minimized by arming the ship's prow with the effigy of a ferocious beast. By the 18th century the tradition had evolved to include human figures. And by the 19th century a ship's figurehead frequently took the form of a lovely woman.

For their figurehead, EDINBURGH's builders spared no expense. They employed the services of renowned Canadian wood carver John Rogerson (1837-1925). Scottish born, he had immigrated to America at a young age and apprenticed to the famous Boston ship carver John Fowle. When his training was complete, Rogerson moved to St. John, New Brunswick where he worked until his retirement in 1887. By 1883, fully aware that he was carving one of the last of her kind to ever adourn a sailing ship, Rogerson sculpted his masterpiece by creating the powerful, full length figure of the ship's namesake, Lady EDINBURGH herself.

Rogerson depicted her in noble dress, replete with gold tiara, classical flowing gown and gold-trimmed shawl. With an open bodice EDINBURGH held her left arm to her bosom draped with a spectacular gold necklace, graced with cameo.
Once in service EDINBURGH lived up to ancient tradition as a sentinel of the sea, guiding her ship through 26 years of peril on the open ocean without incident until it finally foundered from old age in the port of Bermuda in 1909.

But even then, relegated to the ignominious status of a wreck, EDINBURGH's beauty did not go unnoticed! Her rescuer came in the person of William H. Allen, American Consul to Bermuda, who recognized her for what she was, a masterwork of the shipcarver's art. He had the figurehead removed from the ship's hulk and proudly displayed her as the centerpiece in the formal garden of the consulate for nearly two decades.

In the 1920's she became the property of Francis Turnbull Meyer, a successful businessman from New York. Mr. Meyer, long a patron of the arts, donated the figurehead to the Addison Gallery of American Art at the Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts in 1933 where a "Marine Wing" was built around her and she went on public exhibit. There EDINBURGH safely rested, protected from the elements, for the next 70 years. Finally in 2002 the Gallery, with mounting operational costs, was forced to sell the prized figurehead.

Then a venerable 119 years old, Lady EDINBURGH was showing her age. The first 40 years of her life had seen her exposed to wind, sea and tropical elements. These had taken their toll. The current owners opted to stabilize the solid white pine sculpture and restore her surfaces much like a conservator of fine art would do with a museum painting. For this they turned to an Old World, museum-trained specialist in fine art conservation. The results of months of tedious and meticulous attention to every detail are embodied in EDINBURGH as we see her today -- restored to her full beauty, but carefully conserved to retain every trace of originality. EDINBURGH stands an impressive 73 inches tall inclusive of her small wooden display pedestal and weighs an unspoken (for a lady) 400 pounds!

This uniquely famous figurehead is well documented in associated literature. In the book "Shipcarvers of North America," M.V. Brewington, 1962, Barre publishing Co., Barre, Massachusetts, the entire page 94 is devoted to a full length photograph of her with accompanying text. In the landmark work "Treasury of American Design" by Clarence Hornung, published by Abrams, Inc., New York, 1976, the first chapter is entitled "Forgotten Figures Fore and Aft." The frontispiece of chapter I, page 6, is a full page color image of lovely EDINBURGH.

EDINBURGH is the catalog "cover girl" for Christie's Rockefeller Plaza, New York upcoming maritime sale, slated to be sold on January 31, 2007 in conjunction with Americana Week.