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CotBPBlackPearlfigurehead

The figurehead of the Black Pearl.

"If the figurehead was on Opawiwato, Sterling had to find it; by what ever means necessary."
Gunner[src]

A figurehead was a carved wooden decoration found at the prow of ships. Mariners were a superstitious bunch, and they believed that a woman on board a ship would always bring bad luck. They made one exception: wooden women were allowed, but only if they were nailed to the bow as a figurehead.

History[]

Silent Mary figurehead

The figurehead of the Silent Mary.

"Mates, I now libate—if there indeed be such a word, which I rather doubt—our lovely angel here. May she watch out for us, keep us safe, and guide us on our journeys!"
Jack Sparrow to his crew[src]

Although earlier ships had often had some form of bow ornamentation (e.g. the Viking ships of ca. A.D. 800–1100), the general practice was introduced with the galleons of the 16th century, as the figurehead as such could not come to be until ships had an actual head structure on which to place it.

Like all mariners, pirates were a superstitious bunch, and they believed that women on board a ship would always bring bad luck. They made one exception: wooden women were allowed, but only if they were nailed to the bow as a figurehead. Mariners believed the eyes of the figurehead would help their ship to find its way at sea.[1][2]

Pirate ships of the 18th century were known to have colorful figureheads. The Black Pearl's figurehead shows a beautiful woman with an outstretched left arm and a bird about to take flight from her hand;[1][2] this graceful black angel and black dove[3] symbolized Captain Jack Sparrow's goal for freedom. Other notable figureheads include the Misty Lady (a mermaid), the Flying Dutchman (the Grim Reaper)[1][4], and the Queen Anne's Revenge (a demonic skeleton holding a spear and a goblet).[5][6]

The ships of the British Royal Navy carried the figureheads that proclaimed their allegiance to the Crown of England and the British monarchy. The figurehead of the HMS Dauntless showed a lion and a unicorn, the symbols of England and Scotland, holding together the Royal coat of arms of Great Britain. One smaller ship, the brig HMS Interceptor, had a lion for a figurehead.[7] Lord Cutler Beckett's flagship, the HMS Endeavour, had a figurehead similar to that of the Dauntless - two animals holding a red shield with three identical gold lions, the Royal Arms of England.[8] The Monarch of Captain Toms had a crowned lion for a figurehead, while the Essex of Lieutenant Scarfield had a king holding a sword.[9]

Living figurehead

The figurehead of the Silent Mary comes to life.

The Spanish Royal Navy galleon Silent Mary had the figurehead of a woman holding a spear and a shield. After decades of imprisonment in the haunted waters of the Devil's Triangle, the ship and its crew returned to the Seven Seas as ghostly specters, with the ship becoming a living tool of Capitán Salazar's vengeance against the pirates in the Caribbean. When the Mary attacked the Black Pearl, Salazar used his supernatural powers to bring his ship's figurehead to life, using the wooden beast to hunt Captain Jack Sparrow. The living figurehead was crushed when the starboard side of the Pearl collided with the port side of the Mary.[9]

Behind the scenes[]

QAR figurehead

The figurehead of the Queen Anne's Revenge in On Stranger Tides.

"The figurehead of the Queen Anne's Revenge was based on Blackbeard's real flag, which was a great horned skeleton holding a goblet of wine in one hand and spear in the other; as if he's toasting his victims."
John Myhre[src]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

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