Keeping Maritime Traditions Alive: Woodcarver Joseph Uranker Restores Eagle's Figurehead and Sternboard by Mark Alan Lovewell
T
he US Coast Guard Barque Eagle may not hail from Martha's Vineyard, but she carries a fine example of Vineyard craftsmans hip on her stern . Last year, she underwent a significant refit in a Baltimore drydock. While shipwrights strengthened her hull, the Coast Guard also recognized a need to refurbish her more aesthetic qualities. They commissioned a traditional woodcarver to replace the stern board and restore her figurehead. Joseph Uranker is a Martha's Vineyard woodcarver and last year comp leted his work on the famous ship .Today, her name "Eagle" is prominent, visible and legib le, carved in a large mahogany timber. T he brass letters that spelled out her name before were too similar in color to the varnished mahogany background, making them virtually illegible at any distance. Today, ten-inch high letters of gold leaf contrast against black. Hand cut and carved
small, coal- mining town in rural Pennsylvania, Uranker, 53, tooktowoodcarvingas a boy. H e started by making linoleum cuts to make Christmas cards. Carving cam e early; his affection for the sea cam e later. In high school, he recalls whir rling relief carvings of local scenery on drawers and gun cabinets. "I did it in the basement of o ur house in Moon Run. I had quite a few little hand tools. I kept them in a cigar box. There wasn't a lot going on in my town; no television, no shopping. I spent a lot of my rime by myself developing my skills. "
While attending Carlow Co llege he worked, at times, as a carpenter an d framer. In 1978 he worked as a union carpenter fo r Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh restorin g quality-built furniture-a job he held until 199 1. H e lea rn ed wood restoration from the best, wo rking o n fu rnirnre crafted by the late Geo rge Nakash ima, an artist and craftsman , internationally acclaimed for his work in hardwoods such as black walnu t. In 1984, UrankerandhiswifeFra ncesca An n e srarted spe nd ing summ e rs on
Eagle's sternboard - a whole new look
by a ski ll ed craftsman, they display the talents of a man who has earn ed hi s reputation as a traditional maritime artist. Urankercut the new letters in reliefand coated them with go ld leaf to stand o ut against a high-gloss black stern board, measuring ten feet long and weighin g more than 150 pounds. The ch isels that carved them are nearly as old as the ship itself. "I am willing to wage r that the original German artisans who carved the srernboard used the same era tools I used," Uranker says. Uranker also restored and gilded the large gold-leaf figurehead at the bow, much deteriorated after years of exposure to the sea and weather. Ir had years-ago dulled bur now shimmers in the sun light. Born far from the sea in Moon Run, a
SEA HISTORY l 05, AUTUMN 2003
Uranker at work in his Martha's Vineyard wood shop 21