{{short description|Feature of sailing ships}} [[Image:Vasa port galleries1.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The port quarter galleries of the 17th century warship ''Vasa''. The galleries alone have over 70 highly ornate wooden sculptures of varying themes and size, all of which were originally painted in bright, vivid colors.]]
A '''quarter gallery''' is an architectural feature of the stern of a sailing ship from around the 16th to the 19th century. Quarter galleries are a kind of balcony, typically placed on the sides of the sterncastle, the high, tower-like structure at the back of a ship that housed the officer's quarters. They functioned primarily as latrines for the ship's officers, and in inclement weather they also afforded those officers a view of the forward sails of the ship without having to go outside.<ref name="Abranson1976">{{cite book|author=Erik Abranson|title=Ships of the High Seas|url=https://archive.org/details/shipsofhighseas00abra|url-access=registration|year=1976|publisher=Peter Lowe|isbn=978-0-85654-019-6}}</ref> On certain vessels and under certain conditions, the quarter galleries could serve as a firing platform for the ship's marines and sharpshooters during boarding actions. The galleries also provided a structure that was ideally suited for attaching decoration and often bore carved wooden sculptures, particularly in the 17th century.
As small, wing-like extensions of the stern, the quarter galleries were difficult to secure to the hull and in rough weather were sometimes torn from it completely.<ref name="Parkinson2013">{{cite book|author=C. Northcote Parkinson|title=Trade in Eastern Seas 1793-1813|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gES23b8pqY4C&pg=PA267|date=11 January 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-23564-1|page=267}}</ref> Quarter galleries were only fitted on vessels of war.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Naval Encyclopaedia: Comprising a Dictionary of Nautical Words and Phrases: Biographical Notices, and Records of Naval Officers; Special Articles on Naval Art and Science|url=https://archive.org/details/navalencyclopedia00hamerich|year=1884|publisher=Gale Research Company|page=[https://archive.org/details/navalencyclopedia00hamerich/page/675 675]}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}} *Laughton, L. G. Carr (1991) ''Old Ship Figure-Heads and Sterns'' Conway Maritime Press, London {{ISBN|0-85177-595-0}}
{{Sailing ship elements}}
Category:Sailboat components Category:Sailing ship components