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Stammers, Michael : Figureheads and Ship Carving

London: Chatham Publishing, 2005

Hardback, first edition, as new condition, in an as new unclipped dust-jacket, publisher's original seagreen clothboards with gilt blocking to spine, 120 pages including index, colour and b/w photo and line illustrations; Contents include: The Figurehead; Galleys to Cogs; Carracks to Galleons; Warship Carvings to the Baroque Era; 18th and 19th Century Warships; Later Merchant Sailing Ships; Coastal, Inland and Fishing Craft; Steamers and Motor Vessels; Carving and Carvers; Figureheag Survivors; Major Figurehead and Ship Carving Collections; Bibliography--------This book is a concise but comprehensive history of figureheads and ship carving from ancient Egypt to the present, but with the emphasis on the great period of decoration which lasted from the late sixteenth century to the end of the age of sail. Since the earliest times there has been an almost universal urge to personify or decorate a ship, often to signify its importance or demonstrate pride of ownership; decoration was also added for the appeasement of sea gods and the scaring of enemies. 'Eyes' on Chinese junks or Viking carvings of terrifying dragons are fine early examples of the latter, but with the development of navies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the projection of power became reflected in the riotous, allegorical baroque carvings which adorned prestige ships. The lion figurehead, for example, became a symbol of naval power. Later carving, both in Europe and America, reflected more austere classical styles and spread to merchant ships, whose owners took great pride in their vessels. Even today, the powerful typographic logos on the sides of container ships attest to a company's struggle for commercial domination. There are chapters on the ship carvers themselves and their special skills and training, while the present-day collections of figureheads in museums around the world are described. With numerous illustrations, both line and photographic, this new work will appeal to ship modellers and all those with an interest in the age of sail, as well as to all those visitors to museums who admire the colourful and characterful figureheads, now sadly dissociated from the ships they once adorned.

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