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East India Marine Society

East India Marine Society 1

There was something creepy about visiting the large hall at the Peabody Essex Museum and seeing ship figureheads floating out of the walls. The display of figureheads are located in the East India Marine Hall.

Ship figureheads at the East India Marine Society hall at the Peabody Essex Museum
Ship figureheads at the East India Marine Society hall at the Peabody Essex Museum
Ship Figurehead at the Peabody Essex Museum
Ship Figurehead at the Peabody Essex Museum
Ship figureheads at the East India Marine Society hall at the Peabody Essex Museum
Ship figureheads at the East India Marine Society hall at the Peabody Essex Museum

I was wondering what it would be like to wander into this hall at night with just a flashlight and see something like this:

Two-headed equestrian figurehead about 1750. Ther extant example of a double-headed form. It was carved for a British ship.
Two-headed equestrian figurehead about 1750. The only extant example of a double-headed form. It was carved for a British ship.
Model of the ship Seduisant, 1800-1825 created by an artist in a British prison
Model of the ship Seduisant, 1800-1825 created by an artist in a British prison from wood and ivory
Carved tusk and stand, about 1839. Carving depicts scenes from traditional Chinese stories.
Carved tusk and stand, about 1839. Carving depicts scenes from traditional Chinese stories.

3 thoughts on “East India Marine Society”

  1. Your Strange Life is quite interesting, John!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m thinking of Janus in that two headed figure. The others were mostly women, and if I remember correctly it was considered bad luck to have a woman on board, so they put her right out front. What does that say????

    1. Wikipedia has some interesting information:

      “In Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, it was once believed that spirits/faeries called Kaboutermannekes (gnomes, little men, faeries) dwelt in the figureheads. The spirit guarded the ship from sickness, rocks, storms, and dangerous winds. If the ship sank, the Kaboutermannekes guided the sailors’ souls to the Land of the Dead. To sink without a Kaboutermanneke condemned the sailor’s soul to haunt the sea forever, so Dutch sailors believed. A similar belief was found in early Scandinavia/Vikings”

      Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figurehead_(object)

  2. There is also a great collection of ships’ figureheads at Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic CT. The display hall has very low lighting, so the figureheads, looming overhead, seem quite … intimidating. One of them, of ship designer Charles MacKay, in full Scots turnout, looks exactly like my husband.

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