Bay Harbour: December 06, 2023

Wednesday December 6 2023 Bay Harbour News
TREASURES FROM THE PAST 27
Figureheads and good fortune
THIS FINE female figurehead
from the barque Raupo is typical
of 19th century clipper ships
whose bows were often adorned
with elaborate carvings, which
were both an identifier and a
talisman for good fortune.
Across cultures and centuries
practices of decorating a vessel
served multiple symbolic,
patriotic and religious purposes.
From as early as 3000BC
Egyptian barges were painted
with the protective ‘Eye of
Horus’. The bows of Greek
and Phoenician galleons also
sported pairs of painted eyes,
or ferocious boars heads or
swift horses. Roman warships
(naves longae in Latin, from
whence the english word ‘navy’
derives) featured valourious
centurions. On Viking longships,
through AD 800-1100, dragons
or serpents snarled from high
prows. And in the mid 18th-19th
centuries Burmese royal barges
carried figureheads of important
mythical characters.
Throughout Polynesia and in
Aotearoa New Zealand, waka
horua (ocean going canoes),
waka ama (outrigger canoes)
and waka taua (war canoes) had
intricate, perforated, spiral carvings
supporting a carved tauihu
(prow).
On smaller fishing vessels
called waka tētē (or waka pakoko)
figureheads often took the
form of a stylised face with a protruding
tongue. In 2011, remains
of a carved waka found near the
Anaweka estuary in the Tasman
District were radiocarbon dated
to about 1400.
In the 17th and 18th centuries
English vessels carried
figureheads representing saints,
historical figures, a ship’s owner
or royal patron, naval leaders,
Figurehead of coal hulk Raupo in Lyttelton, 1930-1939. Te Ūaka The Lyttelton Museum ref 11326.1 https://www.teuaka.org.
nz/online-collection/1131766 Left – Carved wooden figurehead from a French vessel, ref 2.1 https://www.teuaka.org.nz/
online-collection/469965. Male figurehead from a British ship, ref 336.1 https://www.teuaka.org.nz/online-collection/531484
or emblematic animals such as
unicorns and lions. They served
as both signifiers of origin and
demonstrations of financial and
imperial might. However, the
weight of these large wooden
carvings mounted on the tip of
the hull could cause problems
with a ship’s manoeuvrability.
A move to three quarter rather
than full-sized figures made of
lighter woods like pine, rather
than the oak traditionally used,
went some way to addressing
that issue.
With the burgeoning of
merchant sailing in the 1850s,
the structure of the new clipper
ships bows allowed the mounting
of full size figureheads. The
vast majority were female figures
– they not only symbolically
represented the ‘eyes’ of the ship
watching out for the perils of the
wide ocean, but also the intrinsic
spirit of the vessel.
In maritime tradition ships
had long been referred to as
‘she’ in reference to women’s
beauty and grace being reflected
in a vessel’s elegant curves and
movements, and to represent the
powers of nurturing, protection
and support. Many figureheads
were bare breasted to emphasise
these feminine qualities.
There is a certain irony that
maritime superstition had it a
woman on board was unlucky,
causing distraction, and even
inciting ‘Mother Nature’ to ‘take
revenge’. Ordinary seaman,
working in what was a truly
perilous profession, embraced
these long-held traditions and
superstitions. Men grew to love
their ships and the figurehead
particularly was something they
were proud to take care of.
As to the Raupo’s history, at
the time of her construction
in 1876 by John Key and Sons
at Abden shipyard in Dundee,
Scotland, the 682 tonne ironhulled
barque was registered
as the Peru. Purchased by
J.J Craig in 1907 for moving
cargo between Aotearoa New
Zealand and Australia, she was
renamed Louisa Craig.
In 1916, her name and ownership
changed again when she
was bought by George Scales of
Wellington, renamed Raupo, and
used to ply the Tasman transporting
timber and coal. She
also made five voyages to San
Francisco carrying raupō (flax),
hemp and kauri gum, returning
with a hold full of cased oil.
In 1922, the Canterbury Steam
Navigation Company bought
the Raupo and towed her to
Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour,
where she spent her last years in
use as a coal hulk. In 1937, she
was stripped down to the waterline
and beached at the ‘ships’
graveyard’ off Otamahua Quail
Island. Between 1902 and 1953
a total of 13 vessels were laid
to rest there, out of the way of
the harbour’s busy navigation
channels.
Where the Raupo’s darkhaired
figurehead ended up is
unknown, however Te Uaka’s
collection holds two other fine
examples – a crowned woman
garbed in blue from a French
vessel and a British naval
gentleman resplendent with
brass buttons and epaulettes.
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