18th Century Ship Figurehead Finely Carved Depicting Female Nautical Antiques

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About the Item

Elegant figurehead in finely carved oak wood depicting a female figure of the second half of the 18th century from the North of France and belonged to a small brig, about 250/300 tons. Mounted on a metal base. Height 86 cm - inch 33.7, width 37 cm - inch 14.5, depth 20 cm - inch 7.85. Elegant female figure probably the daughter of the owner, who commissioned a good sculptor of the time, probably a madonnaro to create the figurehead. The work brings out numerous details, the dress is finished with an embroidered collar and the neck adorned with a necklace with a pendant, a cap collects the long curly hair from which the curls on the sides of the face and on the neck come out, framing the beautiful sweet face and sweet and well proportioned, nose and mouth are perfect, while the chin is slightly pronounced. The elegant long dress highlights the drapery in the wind, revealing the slightly pronounced belly. The numerous shortcomings do not alter the work. The left arm, the right forearm and the feet are missing, the dress on the back shows signs of salt corrosion and has been restored in an old date. A figurehead is a wooden decoration, often a female or animal figure, which was found on the prow of ships from the 16th to the 19th century. The practice was first introduced in galleons, but even older ships often had some decorations in the bow. Like many of the austere decorations of the time, the figurehead was intended to indicate the name of the ship that housed it to people who could not read, and were also intended to show the wealth and strength of the owner. During the Baroque period some ships boasted gigantic figureheads, weighing many tons and sometimes even carried two, one on each side of the foremast. The large figureheads, being carved in solid wood and being placed on the tip of the hull, negatively affected the navigation capabilities of the ships. This, and the high costs of construction, led in the eighteenth century to make much smaller figureheads and even to eliminate them in the following century. After the Napoleonic wars some figureheads began to be produced again, but they depicted only small busts and not the large figures used in the past. Clippers of the 1850s and 1860s were typically equipped with full-length figureheads, but these were relatively small and light. The figurehead as such died with the end of the use of large-scale sailing propulsion. The first steamers had structures that resembled figureheads on their prow. This practice lasted until the First World War.

Dimensions:
Height: 33.7 in (85.6 cm)Width: 7.85 in (19.94 cm)Depth: 14.5 in (36.83 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Wood
Period:
1750-1759
Date of Manufacture:
1750
Condition:
Repaired: The numerous shortcomings do not alter the work. The left arm and right forearm and feet are missing, the dress on the back has been restored in an old time and the dress in particular on the back shows signs of salt corrosion.
Seller Location:
Milan, IT
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU1020229818152

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