1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Poppy Heads

POPPY HEADS, a term, in architecture, given to the finials or other ornaments which terminate the tops of bench ends, either to pews or stalls. They are sometimes small human heads, sometimes richly carved images, knots of foliages or finials, and sometimes fleurs-de-lis simply cutout of the thickness of the bench end and chambered. The term is probably derived from the French poupée, doll, puppet, used also in this sense, or from the flower, from a resemblance in shape.