A Superb English Sailors Scrimshaw Carved Walrus Tusk and Whalebone Architectural Walking Cane

A Superb English Sailors Scrimshaw Carved Walrus Tusk and Whalebone Architectural Walking Cane
The octagonal knop set with an early Victorian silver groat and inlaid with tortoiseshell two bands of silver picqué worked tortoiseshell set upon a rope twist open worked shaft inlaid with amber studs another section of architectural form encasing a panel of cross hatched ebony atop a whalebone shaft decorated with cut diamonds and a spiral the whole inlaid with panels of tortoiseshell the ferrule of carved sperm whale tooth
Circa 1850-1875
Size:
94.5cm long, 4cm dia. - 37¼ ins long, 1½ ins dia.
An exceptionally fine example of sailors scrimshaw, this walking cane proves that the ingenuity of the whale man artisan who made it was amazing, but his work was never hurried as time was his most expendable commodity. It was in his choice of design as well as object that the whale men evolved an art peculiar to his trade and developed scrimshaw as a special sort of folk art. His carved objects were the trophies of a successful hunt to be given as a thoughtful present, or bartered for cash on a quayside.

A Superb English Sailors Scrimshaw Carved Walrus Tusk and Whalebone Architectural Walking Cane

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

enquiries@finch-and-co.co.uk
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ENQUIRIES

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

enquiries@finch-and-co.co.uk