Figureheads, the carved wooden sculptures that decorate the prows of sailing ships, offer protection for the crew from harsh seas and lends the vessel its specific spirit--or at least that was the theory in the distant past. Figureheads developed from an ancient tradition of decorating ships with painted eyes, carved figures, and animal heads. Vikings in northern Europe adorned the bows of their vessels with dragon heads, which were thought to help ships see their way through the sea. They are considered the only tangible evidence of the "Great Age of Sail." But what other purposes did sailors believe figureheads served? What stories do these beautiful objects tell? And what do the different characters symbolize? On the Bow of the Ship contains over fifty examples of wooden carvings from the National Maritime Museum in London, home to the world's most extensive collection of figureheads. The illustrated guide explores themes surrounding these unique carvings from mythology and gender to politics and literature. For instance, superstitious crew members often lovingly cared for their figureheads, which were often the only female presence on board. On the Bow of the Ship delves deeply into the history and contexts of figureheads and, by so doing, provides a fresh image of the life at sea.

Figureheads — those magnificent carvings that once adorned the prows of early sailing vessels — are the focus of this intriguing coloring book. Twenty-seven illustrations of these splendid embellishments depict the figure of a sailor ("Jolly Jack Tar"), the warrior chief "Tecumseh," Eurydice, a Scottish soldier of the Blackwatch regiment, and many others.

The first figureheads that were carved to represent the names of British warships appeared during the reign of Henry VIII; the last ones were carved in the early years of the twentieth century. During the intervening three hundred and fifty years it is estimated that some 5000 ships of the Royal Navy carried a figurehead of some description. This book follows the development of these diverse carvings, examining how the figurehead carvers interpreted the names and the symbolism incorporated in their designs. Lavishly illustrated with much previously unpublished material, the book explores the wide range of subjects that were represented.

Ships Figureheads details the different types of figureheads as well as the sculptors who made them. Chapters include descriptions of figurehead lions, dragon heads, figureheads of the 19th century, court sculptors and their work on royal pleasure craft and independent figure carvers.

This book is a detailed comparative study of the decorative work figurehead, topside ornamentation and stern gallery design carried by the ships of the major maritime states of Europe in the zenith of the sailing era. It covers both warships and the most prestigious merchant ships, the East Indiamen of the great chartered companies. The work began life in the year 2000 when the author was commissioned to carry out research for an ambitious project to build a full-size replica of a Swedish East Indiaman, which produced a corpus of information whose relevance stretched way beyond the immediate requirements of accurately decorating the replica.In tracking the artistic influences on European ship decoration, it became clear that this was essentially the story of the baroque style, its dissemination from France, and its gradual transformation into distinct national variations in Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. It is an inherently visual subject and the book illustrates developments with numerous photographs of contemporary ship models, paintings and plans, as well as the author's own interpretive illustrations of details.As the first major work on the topic for nearly a century, it will be of obvious appeal to ship modellers and historians, but with comparative examples drawn from architecture and sculpture, it also makes a broader contribution to the history of the applied arts.