The Death and Rebirth of the Abénakise - an 18th Century Québec Built Frigate

The Abénakise, a 36-gun frigate built in Quebec City for the French Navy, was launched in 1756.  She developed such a reputation for speed that, after her capture by the British, the Abénakise became a prototype for English warship construction.  This Concordia University Graduate Art History Seminar, under the supervision of Dr. Jean Bélisle, has researched the ship’s history as well as the parameters and traditions that would have informed the design of her figurehead.  Our work culminated in the construction of a life sized three-dimensional “hypothesis” of what that figurehead might actually have looked like.
  Figurehead sculpture
2011 (c) Concordia University Department of Art History | Shipbuilding in Quebec Graduate Seminar