Guest seeking info... history of female form?

Can anyone tell me the correct term for the female sculpture on the front of the sailing ship and possibley direct me to some interesting literature on the subject. I am doing some research for a thesis: Sensuality in transportation design.

Thanks for any input you may have.

Scott Wise

[DGreenwood]

It is refered to as a figurehead. There is some info out there on the topic that can be found in books on nautical wood carving. I have some but I'll be damned if I can find them right now. So I am not able to help you with the names or authors. sorry

[artemis]

And they aren't necessarily always female (can't have any gender discrimination). Depends entirely on the name - and whether civilian or government owned. Examples that come to mind are HMS Warrior, USS Constitution, HMS Ulysses.

[cgorton]

I believe part of the superstition is that when a woman bares her breast to the sea, the ship is protected from storms. Hence, the generous cleavage of most figureheads. (Also probably not hindered by the zeal of the all-male crew.)

[MikeJohns]

Yes that's what I have read too. Some of the older sculptures had very nicely carved naked breasts, in Victorian times I suppose this was moderated a bit. The sight of bare breasts as you say was supposed to quiet the sea.

There was one old ship on the slip I saw in Tasmania that continuosly had a gaggle of young men leaning on the rail overlooking the slipway, I wondered on the keen interest until I saw the figurhead she was naked to the waist including naval and carved as sexually aroused! I never took any darned photos.