In 1815 maritime law made it a requisite that every ship have its name affixed to its stern. In 1815, the law also required that name boards or quarterboards be placed on the ships' bows or quarter panel. The figurehead carver was often called upon to provide them. The result has been a collection of such quarter boards which shows the endless variety of decorative carvings at the board-ends as well as the carefully incised letter on the boards themselves, many of which were carefully cut and filled with gold leaf so as to show the name clearly at some distance.
"Figureheads & Ship Carvings" at Mystic Seaport by Edouard A. Stackpole