Figureheads and Ship Carving

By Michael Stammers

Book Overview

Concise but comprehensive, this history of figureheads and ship carvings covers the period from ancient Egypt to the present, with emphasis on the great period of decoration between the late sixteenth century and the end of the age of sail. The decoration of a ship was often done to signify its importance or demonstrate pride of ownership, but was also added to appease sea gods and scare off enemies, as exemplified by the eyes on Chinese Junks and the ferocious dragons on Viking ships, while the lion figurehead symbolized naval power. Michael Stammers explains that the powerful typographic logos seen on the sides of container ships today attest to a company's struggle for commercial domination. In the book he describes the ship carvers as well as collections of figureheads that can be seen in museums around the world. With its numerous illustrations, this book will appeal to all those with an interest in ships and their decorations.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591142741
• ISBN13: 9781591142744
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Naval Institute Press
• Length: 120 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 9.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Book Mostly of the Time of Sail

There was a time before ships became totally functional constructions of steel when individuality brought a soul to the vessel. And often at the bow of the ship was a bit of art that helped to define that soul. This book is on the art and the history of figureheads and other carvings that decorated and personalized ships of the time. It is a magnificant set of photographs and descriptions that give the history of decorations applied to vessels of all kinds. It begins with drawings found of ships in times as far back as the fourth century BC and continues through the present as although the ships they graced are gone, their figureheads remain in museums, monuments in cemetaries, and otherwise preserved. It's easy to imagine the sailing ships of yore with their figureheads as it is impossible to imagine one on the Jahre Viking, a 1,503 foot long oil tanker, or on the modern ships of the navies of the world.