19th century Male Ship’s Figurehead

American figurehead believed to be of President Ulysses S. Grant. 

The ship from which this figurehead came is presently unidentified, but a rendering of this figurehead is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Painted in 1937 by Alfred Denghausen, a WPA artist. This figurehead was displayed in Boston at the  Harrison Gray Otis House, a museum home owned by The  Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA) and now called Historic New England.

Carved half figure with layers of in-use paint. Dark patina with age checks, scrapes and scattered paint chips ,commensurate with age and use. Circa 1870

Height 32 inches