figurehead, carved decoration usually representing a head or figure placed under the bowsprit of a ship. The art is of extreme antiquity. Ancient galleys and triremes carried rostrums, or beaks, on the bow to ram enemy vessels. These beaks were often surmounted by figureheads representing national or religious emblems. Roman vessels were sometimes embellished with large heads of the gods in bronze. Viking ships had lofty and extended prows which were elaborately carved. Dragons and lions vied with the human form in the figureheads of the Renaissance. During the 18th and 19th cent. a highly developed and original art of figurehead wood carving flourished in the United States at a time when little other sculpture was practiced. Few examples survive. With the disappearance of the sailing vessel figurehead art became practically extinct. A fine collection of American figureheads is in the Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Va.

figurehead

Figurehead from the Oseberg ship, Viking, about AD 800; in the Museum of National Antiquities, …

(credit: © Universitetets Oldsaksamling, Oslo, Norway; photographer, Eirik Irgens Johnsen)

Ornamental symbol or figure placed on a prominent part of a ship, usually at the bow. It could be a religious symbol, a national emblem, or a figure symbolizing the ship's name. The custom of decorating a ship probably began in ancient Egypt or India and was followed by the Chinese, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans. As early as 1000 BC, the stem- and sternposts were carved and painted to distinguish one ship from another. The Vikings built ships with high bows and a projecting stem bearing a menacing figurehead, similar to the ships of William I the Conqueror as seen in the Bayeux Tapestry. Figureheads have historically varied in size from 18 in. (45 cm) to 8–9 ft (2.5 m). They remained popular until after World War I.

figurehead

a carved bust or full-length figure at the upper end of the stems of some sailing vessels

figurehead [′fig·yər‚hed]

(naval architecture)

An ornament placed on the foremost edge of the stem just below the bowsprit.

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No references found	During the whole of that period Napoleon, who seems to us to have been the leader of all these movements- as the figurehead of a ship may seem to a savage to guide the vessel- acted like a child who, holding a couple of strings inside a carriage, thinks he is driving it. War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo View in context The spectral figurehead, reversed in its position, glancing backwards, seemed to mock the impatient attitude of the warrior. Typee by Melville, Herman View in context Arthur himself, in many of the romances, was degraded from his position of the bravest knight to be the inactive figurehead of a brilliant court; and the only really historical element in the story, his struggle against the Saxons, was thrust far into the background, while all the emphasis was laid on the romantic achievements of the single knights. A History of English Literature by Fletcher, Robert Huntington View in context	Figner, Vera Figner, Vera Nikolaevna FIGS figs, garland of Figueiredo, João Baptista de Oliveira Figueras Figueras y Moragas, Estanislao Figueras, Estanislao Figueres Figueres Ferrer, José Figueres, José Figuration figurative figurative constant figure figure dimension Figure of Equilibrium figure of merit Figure of Speech Figure of the Earth Figure Skating figure stone figured Figured Bass figured glass figurehead Figures of the Revolutionary Movement in Russia figures shift figurine figuring figwort Fihrist FIIC Fiiuzat Fiji Fiji Day Fiji disease Fiji National Youth Day Fiji Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna Day Fijian Fijians Fijivirus Filali filament filament current filament drawing filament emission filament lamp filament saturation filament transformer filament winding	figure-of-eight suture figure-skate Figure-skater Figure-skater Figure-skating Figure-skating figure-work Figure/ground figured figured figured figured figured figured figured bass figured bass figured basses figured basses figured glass figured on figured on figured on figured on figured on figured out figured out figured out figured out figured out figured-fabric loom figurehead figureheads figureheads figureheads figureless figureless figureless figureless figureless figurer figurer figurer figurer figurer figurer figures figures figures figures figures figures figures of eight figures of fun figures of fun figures of fun figures of fun figures of fun Figures of merit Figures of merit figures of speech figures of speech

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During the whole of that period Napoleon, who seems to us to have been the leader of all these movements- as the figurehead of a ship may seem to a savage to guide the vessel- acted like a child who, holding a couple of strings inside a carriage, thinks he is driving it.

War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo View in context

The spectral figurehead, reversed in its position, glancing backwards, seemed to mock the impatient attitude of the warrior.

Typee by Melville, Herman View in context

Arthur himself, in many of the romances, was degraded from his position of the bravest knight to be the inactive figurehead of a brilliant court; and the only really historical element in the story, his struggle against the Saxons, was thrust far into the background, while all the emphasis was laid on the romantic achievements of the single knights.

A History of English Literature by Fletcher, Robert Huntington View in context

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