Saturday, September 4, 2010

Figurehead Mania, Part 1

One of my vacation destinations was the Mariner Museum in Newport News, Virginia, primarily to see the turret and other artifacts recovered from the Civil War ironclad the U.S.S. Monitor. As a bonus, I got to see a lot of other cool stuff, like these great larger-than-lifesize ships' figureheads.

Columbia, from the Benmore, 1870-1924.
Benmore was a 3-masted bark built in Glasgow. When she was sold to an
American in 1920, the figurehead was repainted with this American flag design.

Apollo, from the Apollo, 1854-1908.
The German bark Apollo was wrecked off the coast of Norway,
where this figurehead washed ashore and was put on display.

Dutch Burgher, ship unknown, circa 1800
at

9 comments:

  1. Cap'n BobSeptember 3, 2010 at 11:00 PM

    I probably visited that museum when I was a kid. Great place.

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  2. Deka BlackSeptember 4, 2010 at 2:22 AM

    Figureheads are the most scary kind of statues i could think. They seem gargoyles too prox to the ground.

    But the weird thing is i like gargoyles.

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  3. David CranmerSeptember 4, 2010 at 7:45 AM

    Marvelous museum.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Evan LewisSeptember 4, 2010 at 8:16 AM

    We hit half a dozen museums on the trip, and this was the only one that allowed flash photography. Most banned ALL photos, which was pretty pissy. I snagged a few anyway, of course.

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  5. Kenneth Mark HooverSeptember 4, 2010 at 10:36 AM

    Oh, man, I visited that museum in Newport News way back in the early 90s. Isn't it awesome?

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  6. GeorgeSeptember 4, 2010 at 12:49 PM

    Bill Pronzini has the answer to your question about a mystery writers equivalent to that SF collection, BEFORE THEY WERE GIANTS, Evan. Here's what Bill has to say:
    Hi Steve--

    Yep, there are two: OPENING SHOTS and OPENING SHOTS VOLUME TWO, both large format trade paperbacks edited by Lawrence Block and published by Cumberland House in 2000 and 2001 respectively. Lots of copies of both available cheap on ABE. My first story, "You Don't Know What It's Like," appears in the second volume, for what that info is worth.

    Best,
    Bill

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  7. GeorgeSeptember 4, 2010 at 12:50 PM

    Steve Lewis gets an "assist" on answering your question, Evan. Steve had the idea of contacting Bill Pronzini who know all when it comes to mystery fiction.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Charles GramlichSeptember 4, 2010 at 3:23 PM

    there have been some cool figureheads for ships. Would like to see this museum.

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousSeptember 5, 2010 at 3:19 PM

    Seeing these, I couldn't help but visualize Harryhausen's talking figurehead in Jason & the Argonauts.
    A.S.

    ReplyDelete