On Shipbuilding. A collection of stray thoughts.

( originally published 20th of May, 2020)

    The practice of putting some sort of ornamentation on the front of a board has been used since ancient times, with the Greeks and Phoenicians painting eyes at the front of their ships.

     Later, Roman ships would be decorated with images of gods and heroes, and everyone is familiar with the dragons decorating Viking Longships. Later ships would be decorated with the images of saints or heraldic beasts.

         This practice was commonly believed to ward off evil, to grant those aboard good luck or to intimidate an enemy. In some cases, they served to identify the ship and the figurehead would reflect the ship's name or purpose.

    Gradually, the practice fell away, however, it experienced a brief revival following the Napoleonic Wars, where the preferred subjects were beautiful women, mermaids or goddesses.

    There are many theories as to why the shift away from martial or heraldic images towards more images of beautiful women, but the most likely is that the shipwrights just wanted to call attentions to their prowess.

    Thank you for your time.