Sailors Scrimshaw Whale Bone Stay Busk

A Sailors Scrimshaw Whale Bone Stay Busk
Etched in black with a whaling ship, its sails furled and three whale boats each with six men some holding harpoons pursuing three sperm whales amidst the waves
Mid 19th Century
Size: 29cm wide, 4.5cm high – 11½ ins wide, 1¾ ins high
See Finch & Co catalogue no. 11, item no. 2, for another Stay Busk
From the Late 17th Century to the Late 19th Century stay busks were used as stiffeners for inserting in a woman’s corset or corsage and it continued to be the custom to carve and present stay busks as love tokens as long as the vagaries of fashion decreed a wasp waist accentuated by a long pointed bodice. Stay busks were popular with sailors as a scrimshaw item because, as they were shaped from the pan bone of a whale, they provided a flat even surface that could be easily engraved.

Sailors Scrimshaw Whale Bone Stay Busk

Main image

SOLD

ENQUIRIES

+44 (0)7768 236921
+44 (0)7836 684133

enquiries@finch-and-co.co.uk

ENQUIRIES

+44 (0)7768 236921
+44 (0)7836 684133

enquiries@finch-and-co.co.uk