Daily camera., 1900-10-05
FANCY FIGUREHEADS
Are No Longer In Vogue Among
Shipbuilders.
Less Decoration Outside ana More In.
side Than FOrmerly-Old CaFv-
sFs Driven Out of Bust
ness by the Change.

The Gays OF the fancy fgureheadl
on ships are almost forgotten in thia
age of plain bowed five and six mas
ters. There was time when ship
without fancy bowpiece was the
exception; now the reverse is the
case. The appearance in Maine har-
Dor of one of these old specimens OF
the artistic era in Maine shipbuiIding
would be hailed with enthusiasm by
the veteran shipmasters and by the
younger generation of sailors would
be regarded with wonder. 1t would,
! at all events, be curiosity to the 90
casional waterfront visitors.
In the shiploft of Edward S. Griffen,
No. 465 Fore street, says the Portland
(Me) Express, may be seen imple-
ments, long since idle and rusting,
of the ship carver's trade. YES"
| said Mr.. Griffen as he solilouuized
over the lost industry, "the ship carv-
er's occupation is gone. In the old
days the ship sailing into port with
out a fgurehead at the bow was like
an unpolished shoe. 1t was all the
fad and entered into the plans for a
vessel about as much as the hull or
rigging. 1t gave a finished appear
ance to the craft which we don't see
in these days and was not an expen-
sive addition, either.
Il believe | am the only one Of the
old carvers now in the business. /
started over 40 years ago. The only
work in the ship carving line of late
is confined to repairing, principally in
cabin work. | remember the elder
Nahum Littlefield and Edward Chap
man were in the business nearly so
years ago on Central wharf. Mr..
Littlefield was succeeded by his son
Nahum, formerly chief engineer of
the fire department., who continued
the business under the firm name of
Nahum Littleield & Brother. but
when the demand for this work dis
appeared they retired. Theodore
johnson was also in the business on
Union street. but he, too. gave it up
when the decline in the ship carver's
trade set in.
THE designs for bow and stern
adornments were varied Busts and
full length ngures We're considerably
in demand, although the dragon was
popular bowpiece. Those that did
mt have "a figure on the bow usually
had what we called billet head wi h
carved trail boards. In such case
there was usually on the stern some
fancy carved molding intertwined
with small figures. There were quite
number of busts and full length
figures and spreadeagles both on bow.
and stern. The reclining figure of a
woman was also in much demand
For instance, if a ship was named for
4 woman it was probable that a bust
ar full length figure of woman
would be used as a tigurehead.
in some cases the bust or full
length figure of man would be used
if the vessel had been named for some
well known citizen. | remember the
old ship William G. Davis had,a bust
of him in the stern moulding. | be
lieve the ship Philena. owned by J. S
Winslow, had "A full length figure of
Mrs. Ninslow. The Philena was a
handsome ship, but was lost many
years ago. The ship Alice Cooper,
pult at Knightville by ex-Mayor Ran
dall'S father, had one of the handsOm-
est figures of any of the vessels COM
ing into the harbor. 1t was the full
length figure of woman. In my
time did considerable work for YES
sells built by j. S. Winslow and Russell
Lewis. The business began to decline
when the profits in'vessels commenced
to disappear. The carving of figure
heads grew to be looked upon as un.
necessary, although tn. expense of
such an adornment usually ran from
500 to $500. The first decline began
with the demand for lighter and less
expensive mouldings, until finally the
fad or custom dropped out entirely.
AS substitute common rope came
into use. A coil of rope with a knot
in the center was at first used. but
now not even this is seen on one-half
the vessels. The eye for the artistic
blinded in these later days by purely
financial motives.
Many vessels of the present time
have head and trail boards on the
bow, and some have the scroll head
Some have a fancy quarter board on
the side for the vessels name Fancy
carving on the interior and exterior
Of the cabin, with trussed knee on
the forward of the cabin, are some
what in use now. But all the inside
and outside cabin decoration can
never take the place, from an artistic
view, of the handsome. fgurehead of
the old days. The old business is
gone said Mr.. Griffen, land l do not
expect to live to see its revival"
Mr.. Gritfen explained that the fig
ureheads formerly in use were usual
ly made of hard pine and were carved
by hand.
Proud of His Promotion.
81