Editing Figurehead (object) (section)

== History ==
[[File:Medinet Habu Ramses III. Tempel Nordostwand Abzeichnung 01.jpg|thumb|320px|A ship with oars bears the fierce lioness that appears as a figurehead on two Ancient Egyptian ships in a {{Circa|1200 BC}} depiction of the victory over the invading [[Sea Peoples]] in a battle [[Battle of the Delta|at the Nile River delta]]]]
Early ships often had some form of bow ornamentation (e.g. the eyes painted on the bows of [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[Phoenicia]]n [[galley]]s, the Roman practice of putting carvings of [[Religion in ancient Rome|their deities]] on the bows of their galleys, and the [[Viking ship]]s of ca. A.D. 800–1100). The menacing appearance of toothy and bug-eyed figureheads on Viking ships were considered a form of [[apotropaic magic]], serving the function of warding off [[demon|evil spirits]].<ref>[[British Museum]], [https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_mla/s/ships_figurehead.aspx Viking Ship's Figurehead], found in [[East Flanders]]</ref> 

The Ancient Egyptians placed figures of holy birds on the prow. A wall relief at Medinet Habu depicting Ramses III defeating the Sea Peoples in the [[Battle of the Delta|Battle of the Nile Delta]] circa 1200 BC depicts Ancient Egiptian ships with a fierce lioness figurehead carved on the bow of two of the ships. Likely this depicted their warrior goddess, [[Sekhmet]], who was seen as their protector. The Phoenicians used horses representing speed. The Ancient Greeks used the heads of boars to symbolise acute vision and ferocity while Roman boats often mounted a carving of a centurion representing valour in battle. In northern Europe, serpents, bulls, dolphins, and dragons were customary and by the thirteenth century, the swan was used representing grace and mobility.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheets_Figureheads.htm |title=Ship's figureheads |year=2000 |work=Research |publisher=Royal Naval Museum Library |access-date=2013-08-16}}</ref>

In Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, it was once believed that spirits or faeries called ''[[Klabautermann|Kaboutermannekes]]'' (gnomes, little men, faeries) dwelt in the figureheads. The spirit guarded the ship from sickness, rocks, storms, and dangerous winds. If the ship sank, the ''Kaboutermannekes'' guided the sailors' souls to the Land of the Dead. To sink without a ''Kaboutermanneke'' condemned the sailor's soul to haunt the sea forever, so Dutch sailors believed. A similar belief was found in early Scandinavia.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

[[File:Phaung Daw U-Festival-28-Royal Barque-gje.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The ceremonial barge used during the annual [[Hpaung Daw U Pagoda|Phaung Daw U Pagoda]] festival in [[Myanmar]] uses a figurehead at right of a ''[[Kalaviṅka|karaweik]]'', a mythical bird.]]
In pre-colonial Burma, during the [[Konbaung dynasty]], figureheads were used to distinguish several types of [[royal barge]]s allocated to different members of the royal court; each barge had a specific mythical figurehead at the front.

A general practice of figureheads was introduced in Europe with the [[galleon]]s of the sixteenth century, as the figurehead as such could not come to be until ships had a [[Stem (ship)#Stemhead|stemhead]] structure on which to place it.<ref name="Stackpole1964">{{cite book|last=Stackpole|first=Edouard A.|title=Figureheads & ship carvings at Mystic Seaport|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoNrAAAAIAAJ&q=figureheads|year=1964|publisher=Marine Historical Association|access-date=2012-11-14}}</ref> During the period from the seventeenth to the eighteenth centuries the carved subjects of figureheads varied from representations of saints to patriotic emblems such as the unicorns or lions popular on British ships. When the ship was named after a royal or naval personage the head and bust of the individual might be shown.<ref>Pages 132-133 Volume IV, Micropaedia Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th Edition</ref>

As with the stern ornamentation, the purpose of the figurehead was often to indicate the name of the ship in a non-literate society (albeit in a sometimes very convoluted manner); and always, in the case of naval ships, to demonstrate the wealth and might of the owner. At the height of the [[Baroque]] period, some ships boasted gigantic figureheads, weighing several tons and sometimes twinned on both sides of the bowsprit.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

A large figurehead, being carved from massive wood and perched on the very foremost tip of the hull, adversely affected the sailing qualities of the ship. This, and cost considerations, led to figureheads being made dramatically smaller during the eighteenth century, and in some cases they were abolished altogether around 1800. After the [[Napoleonic wars]] they made something of a comeback, but were then often in the form of a small waist-up bust rather than the oversized full figures previously used. The [[clipper]] ships of the 1850s and 1860s customarily had full figureheads, but these were relatively small and light. During their final stage of common use figureheads ranged in length from about {{convert|18|in|cm}} to {{convert|9|ft|m}}.<ref>Page 132 Volume IV, Micropaedia Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th Edition</ref>