POLYCHROME SCRIMSHAW WHALE'S TOOTH Depicts a full-length portrait of a woman wearing a red beaded necklace and an extravagantly patt..

POLYCHROME SCRIMSHAW WHALE'S TOOTH Mid-19th Century

Depicts a full-length portrait of a woman wearing a red beaded necklace and an extravagantly patterned red, blue and green dress standing on a checkered floor. A large red and green flowering plant is to the right. Portrait is framed within a scrolling border. Length 8.25".

Illustrated in Scrimshaw and Scrimshanders, Whales and Whalemen by E. Norman Flayderman (New Milford, Ct.: N. Flayderman & Co., Inc., 1972), p. 68.

Marked "NH120H" on base, indicating the piece was from the collection of Meylert Armstrong of New Hope, Pennsylvania, the preeminent scrimshaw collector from the 1920s to the 1950s. When E. Norman Flayderman purchased much of Armstrong's collection, forming the nucleus of his own collection, he marked the items "NH", standing for "New Hope", followed by a series of numbers. A substantial number of the items illustrated in Flayderman's book are from Armstrong's collection, some with the "NH" mark visible.

Condition: Figured patina, similar to that seen on a tooth engraved by Frederick Myrick sold at Eldred's, November 15, 2018, Lot #92.

This item will not be shipped internationally without a CITES permit. Obtaining CITES and any other necessary permits is the obligation of the buyer.

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