Existing comment:
Ship Decoration:
Sailing men-of-war were heavily adorned with carved and painted decorations. Reflecting baroque tastes, those built in the 17th century were especially ornate, with imposing, often whimsical or bizarre statues covering nearly every vertical surface from stem to stern.
In order to lower expenses, in 1703 the Admiralty directed that henceforth decorative carvings on Royal Navy ships would be restricted to the bow and stern. This coincided with the adoption of neo-classical principles of art and architecture in which Roman-style arches and Greek pillars took the place of the extravagant carved statues that graced English ships in the previous century.
Faced with the crisis of the Wars of the French Revolution, in 1796 the Admiralty issued an order to "explode carved works." This resulted in a drastic reduction in costly decorations. Thereafter, painted friezes were abolished and only small bas-relief carvings were allowed, while the formerly huge and costly figureheads were reduced to simple half-length figures or busts.
The Lower Deck:
Because men-of-war carried very large crews (a fact dictated by the need to man the guns, some of which required 10-12 men each), living space on the lower deck was at a premium, and privacy all but unknown. When not on watch, the men ate, slept, and relaxed there, often entertaining one another with music and dance or telling tall tales over a mug of beer. |