Featured Help with wooden boat figurehead style figurines, repros?

Hi there, I won these at auction recently. I bid on them because they were just odd enough that they piqued my curiosity! They both measure approx 8" tall. I have seen large versions that were boat/ship figureheads. What are these do you think? do they have any age or are they repro or souvenir types? Any info welcome. Thank you!

 

IMHO,I suspect they're carved repros of antique maritime pieces .Fresh wood very nicely carved in a naive period style.

 

Definitely funky,ergo I love them !

 

Yes, I thought they were too quirky to leave behind!

 

They are begging for a model boat.

 

Well done models of classic 19th c. figureheads. Here is a unfinished head portion of a figurehead I own by the late carver Salvador Polisi, 1 ft.x2 ft. 40 lbs. mahogany.

 

I wonder if it is supposed to be someone like Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry and maybe his wife?
https://www.ohpri.org/the-ship/commodore-perry/

 

The man isn't wearing a uniform. He could be a historical figure though.

 

I've gone down a bit of a rabbit hole with these I think the female MAY be based on Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale".

 

Sal Polisi-Superb work .He got a decent obit in the NY Times,no easy feat !

 

I saw the replica figurehead from the "Jenny Lind" on Etsy, which you probably saw too. Yours could be modeled after it, with some artistic licence.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/206278...MI5vK-lvXW_wIVD9PVCh12wAHfEAQYASABEgJXLfD_BwE

 

I'll bet that Jenny Lind herself never wore the type of clothing in either figurehead (Original post or on etsy)! But the ship was named after her.

Based on the styles that can be discerned in the original post above, their clothing and hair do appear to be sort of early 1840s in style. But the woman is some sort of romanticized figure. Just my opinion, though.

I found this interesting site, and looked at the pics and narrative for some of these ideas. May have seen this site before but don't remember all the detail!

https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1840-1849/

https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1830-1839/

 

Maybe in one of her singing parts.
Her hair was also much darker.

 

This one is much closer to mine with dress colouring etc.
https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2008/01/jenny-lind-sing-again.html

 

Great article! And maybe she did wear an outfit like that.