Figure-head

Figure-head, the ornamental figure or bust on the head of a ship, immediately under the bowsprit. Where the vessel's name cannot be represented by such a figure, a piece of timber, finished off in the form of a volute or scroll, often takes its place on sailing-ships; on steamships the bow is usually plain. The huge figure-heads of several historical old line-of-battle ships are still carefully preserved at Millwall, including that of the 'fighting Téméraire.'