A gallery beneath the Cutty Sark is home to the Long John Silver Figurehead Collection, the world’s largest collection of the elaborate wooden carvings that decorate the bow of a ship. “Long John Silver” was Sydney Cumbers (1875-1959). He lost sight in his left eye as a child in an accident with a toy gun, and took to wearing a distinctive eye patch (hence the nickname, a reference to the famous pirate from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island). He was a successful businessman but had a passion for collecting maritime artifacts, building up a…
