Within the Greek Pantheon, elegant ladies held court alongside battle-hardened women. Hel and Hippolyte, Hera and Artemis, Athena and Cassiopeia: all women of classic looks who could wield a sword if the occasion required. This ship goddess displays the necessary firepower of confidence the vessel's crew under the favor of her protective charms would have possessed. More than just an artistically carved image, each ship figurehead served to embody the fighting spirit of the vessel, as well as serving as the personification of the ship.
Figure carvers were essential to the British and American sailing ship yards. The 17th century saw the emergence of the art, which prevailed until the waning days of sail. Most often, their works were directly commissioned by the vessel builders and owners, naval or merchant, and the final result would be an image that closely identified with the vessel's name. Although the wooden woman's name is today unrecorded, she definitely once had a specific identity.
Pale blue eyes beneath a head of fiery red hair hold watch. Attired in a scale mail breastplate with a plumed helm, she has her right hand on the hilt of a broadsword, her left anchoring the scabbard. Western civilization drew heavily from the Renaissance forward upon the well-spring of science and society of the Greeks. Oaths to their gods and goddess became a tongue-in-cheek manner of displaying an education. Sailors' prayers for protection and success for their voyages were made with a more earnest intent.
