Drowne, a woodcarver who has established a reputation for producing adequate but not inspired figures, accepts a commission from Captain Hunnewell to carve a specific figurehead for Hunnewell's ship the Cynosure. As he works upon the carving, Drowne becomes more engaged with his artistry and more aware of the potential to convey the energy and dynamism of the human form in sculpture. Like Pygmalion, whose myth inspires this tale, Drowne falls in love with his creation and wishes it were real. Hawthorne reveals that a living version of this figure does exist when she appears in the company of Captain Hunnewell. The carved figure of the mysterious lady is Drowne's one great success; afterward he returns to being "the mechanical carver in wood, without the power even of appreciating the work that his own hands had wrought.