Elizabethan ships often had a lion or dragon as their figurehead. The
lion as in Fig. 33D. middle 17th century, was common to
most naval ships in Europe and
leaned backwards grotesquely in a grand sweep of the stern known as
"the sweep of the lion". It was an ugly brute with the lower part in
two halves, one each side of the head knee, and the style of the crown
on its head conformed to the type of crown of the country or origin.
The lion was in vogue until about the late l7th century when individual
figureheads were adopted for larger naval ships and by the middle 18th
century they were common to the smalle craft too.
The stem head came less upright through the centuries
until the mid 19th century when the clipper type stem meant the
figure-head took a near horizontal posture like that in 33H, which was
common to early steamships, and clippers, and later to the last
windjammers and private yachts.
Whatever the posture of the figure, the face should always be looking
out over the horizon ahead and not downward.
Some of the ironclad ram bowed warships of the last
century had enormous cast iron figureheads covering most of the bows.
One of these could be seen on a hulk in the Medway, England, until 1960
—an excellent example of ironworkers' art. Plaque'type figureheads are
today enjoying a revival on many ocean freighters.
Use the billet head on smaller craft such as coasting
schooners. The Down Easters of the last half 19th century often carried
a rather elongated billet head.
It's not an easy job even for experts to discover the
exact figure for a particular ship, as even during the parsimonious
naval periods when ships were launched with common emblems, it was
frequently the case that the commander, out of his own pocket, (and the
liberal help of a rascally purser) substituted a carved figure of his
own fancy.
