A half-length figurehead of a bearded and crowned river god representing the River Dee in north-west England. This was carved for HMS Dee (1832), a 6-gun wooden paddle warship later converted to a troopship and finally a storeship before being broken up in 1872.

In Greek and Roman iconography, river gods were visually associated with Poseidon/Neptune, the ruler of the seas. For example, early-nineteenth-century statues representing the Tiber and the Nile both depict bearded gods with relevant attributes like an oar for navigation or a cornucopia for wealth and trade. In the case of HMS Dee these symbols may have been on the trail-board down each side of the supporting stem-post.