Bone Nautical Objects

Scrimshaw is the art of carving bone, ivory, or other materials. It was a popular pastime for whalers in the 19th century, who created decorative and utilitarian objects. This very u...

Here is an unusual and rare trio of functioning antique bellows crafted in wood leather and turtle shells with a rustic form and beautiful aged patina....

A Napoleonic era bone prisoner of war model of the 40-gun frigate ‘Creolian’, the three masted barque with a planked hull, finely detailed with a carved poop deck and a female figurehead, intricate black thread rigging and a black plaque stating in gilt, Creolian. In the original glazed wooden case with a painted background of a sunset over a bay with ships on the horizon. French, circa 1800. Provenance Ivan Roll Amis, d. 1 July 1970 Richard Henry Allen Amis, CBE, thence by descent During the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815), large numbers of French soldiers and marines were taken prisoner. To help pass the time and generate a small income, they would make a variety of objects—including ship models—from simple, easily-sourced materials such as bone and wood for sale at local markets. Typically, the models were not made to scale and tools were limited, making the quality and attention to detail in this work even more remarkable. To realise a good price at market, the models were often named after famous ships of the time. It may well be that this ship was the ‘Créole’, a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy. She served in the Brest squadron, took part in Ganteaume’s expeditions of 1801 to Egypt, and was involved in the French acquisition of Santo Domingo (also known as the Era de Francia) and briefly detained Toussaint Louverture...

This is a rare and collectible group of three Alaskan scrimshaw articles with a 19th century cribbage board carved from a walrus tusk and two utensils.. The Cribbage board is late 19th/early 20th Century. Comprising an Inuit cribbage...

Whaler made antique bone and ebonized wood round box, circa 1850. With pierced bone medallion and delicately carved bone spiral decorative supports on the...

American Nautical silver plated and brass dolphin horn gong mounted on ebonized step back molded edge wooden base, Nantucket, 20th Century.

English monumental polished steel carving set with inlaid eagle bone handles depicting E. pluribus unum motto. Stamped with Hallmarks in Silver S.H. Samue...

A rare scrimshaw decorated horn, engraved over one side with the Royal Arms countersigned and titled ship profiles for the Great Eastern, the Great Britain,...