Figurehead of La Blanca Aurora

Blanca Aurora, Francesc Pascual Granés, 1848

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Num. inventory: 504

Object name: figurehead

Title: Blanca Aurora

Object date: 1848

Author: Francesc Pascual Granés

Technique and material: polychrome woodcarving

Figureheads and sculptures

Carving from 1848 by sculptor Francesc Pascual Granés, from Lloret de Mar. It was once mounted on the corvette Blanca Aurora, built the same year by shipwright Agustí Pujol, known as “Ferreret”.

The figurehead represents Maria, the daughter of captain and shipowner Silvestre Parés. Captain Parés had reserved the right to keep the figurehead, most certainly because of the devotion he felt for his deceased daughter. According to legend, Maria Parés died young, and his father ordered the figurehead to be made in her likeness so he could always have her near him.

The corvette Blanca Aurora had several different owners, and when it was finally decommissioned in Rio de Janeiro, Silvestre Parés recovered the figurehead and had it brought back to Catalonia.