MARINE ART - FIGURE HEADS

Marine art, figureheads of note

 

 

RESEARCH FOR OUR SOLAR LADY

 

A ship often has an elaborate figure carved from wood - normally a maiden - attached to the bows or prow of the vessel to bring good luck to the ship and its voyages and act as a guiding beacon and inspiration to the crew.  A ship is regarded by sailors and marine architects as a female object: "She's a fine ship." "She's a lovely looker." And that may explain to some degree why the female form is preferred to the male. Though in battle one might expect phallic symbolism, where the symbolic version of the phallus (a phallic symbol) is meant to represent male generative powers. 

 

The Significance of the Phallus in marine art is the difference between "being" and "having" the phallus. Men are positioned as men insofar as they have the phallus. Women, not having the phallus, are seen to "be" the phallus. The symbolic phallus is the concept of being the ultimate man, and so armed is compared to having the divine gift of God. Thus, a female form is appropriate as being both the mother and guardian of the ship and the male symbolic regenerative driving force. So much for the theory. A sculptor will tell you the same in a hundred different ways with no Freudian connotations.

 

Every now and then the artists who carved these works would produced something rather special.  It is a shame this particular skill goes largely un-noticed - the exquisite works shown on our pages rarely feature the name or history of the artist. Sculpting to our mind requires extremely creative carving skills and meticulous planning.

 

    

  Angel wings figurehead on display in the Paris Maritime Museum

 

A superb Angel themed figurehead, badly damaged - follow the progress of our 

figurehead as the Solar Lady develops

 

 

Featured on this page is a figurehead carved from an unidentified wood in sections, now preserved for posterity and captured on film by Nelson during his visit to the Maritime Museum in Paris, France 2003.

 

 

Maritime Museum in Paris, wooden figurehead carving

 

 

Much of the message and inspiration for our figurehead was provided by Christina Dusart and Annie Brettell, the aim being for Solar Lady to reflect both the traditional and modern aspects of our stated aims.  If you are interested in contributing to this art project please contact the team.  In return for your help we will be pleased to feature your work or advertise your exhibition(s).

 

 

A figurehead is usually a carved wooden decoration, most often female or bestial, found at the prow of ships of the 16th to the 19th century and in ancient times. The practice was introduced with the galleons of the 16th century, as although earlier ships had often had some form of bow ornamentation, the figurehead as such could not come into being until ships had an actual head structure upon which to place it.

As with the stern ornamentation, the purpose of the figurehead was often to indicate the name of the ship in a non-literate society (albeit in a sometimes very convoluted manner); and always, in the case of naval ships, to demonstrate the wealth and might of the owner. At the height of the Baroque period, some ships of the line boasted gigantic figureheads, weighing several tons and sometimes twinned on both sides of the bowsprit.

A large figurehead, being carved from massive wood and perched on the very foremost tip of the hull, adversely affected the sailing qualities of the ship. This, and cost considerations, led to figureheads' being made dramatically smaller during the 1700s, and in some cases they were abolished altogether around 1800. After the Napoleonic wars they made something of a comeback, but were then often in the form of a small waist-up bust rather than the oversized full figures previously used. The clipper ships of the 1850s and '60s customarily had full figureheads, but these were relatively small and light.

Figureheads as such died out with the sailing ship. Early steamships, however, did sometimes have gilt scroll-work and coats-of-arms at their bows. This practice lasted up until about World War I. The 1910 German liner SS Imperator originally sported a large bronze figurehead of an eagle (the Imperial German symbol) standing on a globe. The few extra feet of length added by the figurehead made the Imperator the longest ship in the world at the time of her launch.

It is still common practice for warships to carry metal badges somewhere on their superstructure which, like figureheads, relate to the ship's name- for example Type 42 Destroyers of the Royal Navy, which are named after British cities, carry badges depicting the coat of arms of their namesake.

In Germany, Belgium, and Holland, it was once believed that spirits/faeries called Klaboutermannikins (water mannikins) dwelt in the figureheads. The spirit guarded the ship from sickness, rocks, storms, and dangerous winds. If the ship sank, the Klaboutermannikin guided the sailors' souls to the Land of the Dead. To sink without a Klaboutermannikin condemned the sailor's soul to haunt the sea forever, so Dutch sailors believed.

 

 

 

 

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A collection of figurehead sculptures from around the world to show the variety of dress and color, but near identical mounting - where the mascot must lead the ship to safety from port to port.

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An unusual departure from the female form, is seen on the Mexican ship, an Aztec warrior.

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Mexican figurehead, exquisite Aztec warrior

 

 

 

WEATHER 

 

The weather played an integral role in the fate of ships and sailors in the days of sail. This was one of the reasons that sea-going vessels often had a figurehead adorning the bow. Because, it was believed that a ship couldn’t sink so long as the figurehead remained attached. During a fierce storm, if a woman bared her breasts as one with nature, the storm would abate. This is why bare-breasted women are often seen as ships’ figureheads.


MERMAIDS 

 

What could be better as a figurehead than the combination of a beautiful woman with a tail like a fish - a woman of the ocean; combining the best of both worlds, where the mermaid is also bare-breasted. 

 

In 1608 Henry Hudson recorded that two of his men – Thomas Hilles and Robert Rayner – sighted one of these seductive sea creatures:

"This morning one of our companie looking over boord saw a mermaid, and calling up some of the companie to see her, one more came up and by that time shee was come close to the ships side, looking earnestly on the men. A little after the sea came and overturned her. From the navill upward her backe and breasts were like a womans, as they say that saw her, but her body as big as one of us. Her skin very white, and long haire hanging downe behinde of colour blacke. In her going doune they saw her tayle, which was like the tayle of a porposse, and speckld like a macrell."

While fascinating to watch and oh so lovely, mermaids had the power to lure sailors to their deaths. Mermaids that did so are referred to as Sirens.

 

 

 

 

 

LINKS

 

http://www.figureheads.co.uk/

 

Richard Hunter
Figurehead Historian

15 Aughton Avenue,
Aughton, SHEFFIELD,
South Yorkshire, S26 3XB
United Kingdom.

Telephone/Fax: 0044 (0) 114 287 3465

 

 

http://www.jpuwoodcarver.com/

 

J.P. URANKER WOODCARVER
All rights reserved, 2000-2006
P.O. Box 1393, 179 County Road, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557 Tel: (508) 693-5871
e-mail:  jpuranker@jpuwoodcarver.com

 

 

http://www.maritimawoodcarving.co.uk/

 

MARITIMA
76 Mathews Way, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 4EB
England.
Tel/Fax: +44 (0)1453 756716 Mobile: +44 (0)7836 323431
andy@maritimawoodcarving.co.uk

 

 

http://www.hartmann-designs.de/

 

Claus & Birgit Hartmann Harriersand 6 28 790 Schwanewede Germany Tel :+49 (0) 4296/ 573 Fax:+49 (0) 4296/ 74 81 79

Hartmanndesign@aol.com

 

 

http://www.cindyvallar.com/superstitions.html
http://misscavendish.blogspot.co.uk/2010_09_01_archive.html

http://www.cityofart.net/bship/figurehead.htm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatpicturegalleries/7299378/Ship-figureheads.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Solar Navigator triple hull SWASH trimaran tank test model

 

The Solar Navigator - SWASSH (Small Waterplane Area Stabilized Single Hull) test model 2012

The latest Solarnavigator is a robot ship designed to be capable of an autonomous world navigation set for an attempt in 2015 if all goes according to schedule. The platform is also ideal for persistent monitoring 365 days year 24/7 - with data streamed back to your command HQ via satellite.

 

 

 

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Wood sculpture   - Youtube

 

Wood carving - Youtube