Figureheads
Ships' figureheads and ornamental carving collection
View over 230 figureheads in Collections online.
The National Maritime Museum's collection traces the development of ornamental carving from the late 17th century until the early 20th century. It encompasses a wide range of materials from examples of simple scrollwork and ships' badges to very large items such as the figurehead and stern gallery of HMS Implacable. Although naval figureheads form the core of the collection, the Museum also holds many fine figureheads and other forms of decoration from numerous merchant vessels.
The development of ornamental carving
The origins of the figurehead and other forms of ornament lie in prehistoric times. The decoration and carving of vessels was common among the seafaring civilisations of the ancient world, with evidence of Egyptian examples dating from before 3000 BC. The precise reasons for the painting of an eye, or the mounting of a carved head in human or animal form, near the bow of a boat are uncertain. Clearly these images had strong magical or religious significance and related to the need for a ship to 'see' its way safely through the water.
In Europe, the tradition was maintained by the Greeks and Romans, and further developed on the longboats of Viking mariners. Dragon- and beast-heads are visible on some of the French and English craft depicted in the Bayeaux tapestry.
Changes in the design of ships have always affected the size, shape, and position of a figurehead. The construction of fore and after castles in the 14th century left no obvious site for the figurehead and they were replaced with heraldic designs and pained decoration on larger vessels. From the second half of the 15th century onwards, further technical innovation permitted the return of the figurehead. The decoration on the warships of the expanding European navies became increasingly elaborate during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Lion figureheads
The figureheads of first-rate vessels were large, finely carved affairs, often depicting a lion. These lions were surrounded by extensive bow decoration. Stern galleries too became much more ornate and reflected the exuberance of the Baroque style. Indeed, as the stern grew in width and height there was a corresponding increase in the wealth of decoration. The stern simply offered greater scope for the carver.
A lion was the most common subject for naval and commercial figureheads across much of Europe from the 17th until the mid-18th century when individual designs became more prevalent. The lion had obvious traits that made it especially suitable for Royal Navy warships: not only was it a fierce predator, but it was also a national symbol and formed part of the monarch's coat of arms. There are a number of lion figureheads in the Museum's collection, but because of their widespread use it has not always been possible to identify the ships they adorned.
By around 1700 the decoration of naval vessels reached its peak and the Royal Navy began a long, slow process of restricting, and eventually eliminating, carving around the bow and stern. The carving on lower-ranking warships was curtailed, but dispensations were sought for first- and second-rate vessels and even lesser ships could still be fitted with fine figureheads. The design of the stern was simplified and became more functional.
19th and 20th-century developments
In the meantime, the lion began to be replaced by a more individual form of figurehead that often reflected the name of the ship, for example, that of HMS Harlequin. The 16-gun brig-sloop was launched in 1836 and had an active and varied career. She saw service at the China Station between 1839 and 1842. In February 1844, while part of the East Indies squadron, the Harlequin took part in anti-piracy activities off the coast of Sumatra. With other Royal Navy ships and an East India Company steamer, she attacked pirate strongholds at Batu and Murdu.
In the 1850s, the ship was stationed off West Africa. In 1860, the Harlequin reached the end of her active naval service and was reduced to a coal hulk before being sold off at the end of the 19th century. The Admiralty presented the masked figurehead (5 ft in height) to the Museum in 1936.
Bow carving was again limited at the beginning of the 19th century as the Admiralty imposed new restrictions and as further changes in warship design curtailed the scope for decoration. The increasing pace of technical innovation, particularly in the construction of larger ships, soon made the figurehead all but redundant.
The early ironclads were given figureheads but later classes and the new all-steel vessels had no obvious place for such ornament beyond a simple shield, although some stern decoration was maintained. Figureheads for larger warships were abolished in 1894. Decorative carving on smaller naval craft lasted a little longer and sloops built as late as 1901 were still fitted with a figurehead; these survived until the First World War.
Many of the technical innovations that confronted the navy affected carving on commercial vessels, but there were none of the prohibitive orders to limit the amount and style of decoration beyond the question of cost. In general, merchant ships had followed the trends that dictated navy design until the first half of the 19th century.
The advent of the more graceful clipper ships allowed the fitting of a full-length figure at the bow. These figures were often in the form of a woman, as can be seen on the Cutty Sark. Figureheads and other carving continued to adorn wooden sailing vessels until they disappeared with the gradual introduction of modern steam-powered steel ships.
The figurehead collection at the National Maritime Museum consists of more 50 examples largely dating from the period 1800 to 1860, although there are 18th-century figureheads and some later 19th-century carvings. Nearly two-thirds of collection was acquired from the Admiralty between the 1930s and the 1970s and it is, therefore, strongest on naval figureheads from various classes of warship. The Museum also holds the figurehead from Nelson's funeral carriage. There are, however, fine examples from merchant vessels.
There are many examples of other forms of ship decoration: stern badges and figures, scrolls, transom boards, binnacles, and pieces of 'inboard' carving such as relief figures, bulkhead covers, and wall panels. The museum's excellent ship model collection gives an indication of the scale and scope of decoration on earlier vessels, especially those of the 18th century.
NMM 'Valhalla', Tresco, Isles of Scilly
'Valhalla' on the island of Tresco houses one of the finest collections of merchant ship figureheads in the world. The collection was begun by Augustus Smith (1806-72) a wealthy landowner who leased the islands in 1834. Based at Tresco Abbey, Smith, the 'Lord Protector' of the islands, acquired many figureheads from vessels shipwrecked off the Scillies; and 'Valhalla' became a monument to the sailors who perished in the surrounding waters.
Subsequent generations of the Dorrien-Smith family added to and maintained the 'Valhalla' collection until the death of Lt Cdr T. Dorrein Smith in 1973. The National Maritime Museum formally acquired the in 1979 in lieu of estate duties. The Tresco gardens contain more than 30 figureheads and numerous nameboards and other examples of decorative carving from the age of sail.
Research opportunities
Aside from viewing figureheads and ornamentation as an integral part of historic ship design, they can be regarded as examples of art in their own right. An examination of the scale, form, and techniques of figurehead and ornamental carving within the Museum's collections reflects not only the development of a particular maritime tradition, but also the changing preoccupations of the decorative arts more generally.
Related collections at the NMM:
- Ship paintings
- Prints and drawings
- Ship models (especially important for the 17th and 18th centuries where surviving figureheads and examples of ornamentation are rare)
- Ship plans
- Historic photographs
- Manuscripts
Further reading
- Coasta, Giancarlo, Figureheads: Carving on Ships from Ancient Times to Twentieth Century (Lymingtom: Nautical, 1981).
- Laughton, L. G. Carr, Old Ship Figure-heads and Sterns (London: Halton & Truscott Smith, 1925)
- Norton, Peter, Ships' Figureheads (London: David & Charles, 1976)
- Taylor, David, Figureheads (London: National Maritime Museum, 1992)