SCRIMSHAW WHALE'S TOOTH ATTRIBUTED TO THE LOCKET ENGRAVER Obverse depicts a characteristic Locket Engraver portrait of a dark-haired..

SCRIMSHAW WHALE'S TOOTH ATTRIBUTED TO THE LOCKET ENGRAVER 1840s

Obverse depicts a characteristic Locket Engraver portrait of a dark-haired woman holding a locket. She has bows in her ringlets, a Maltese cross at her neck and her dress has puffy sleeves and lace trim. The locket, suspended from her neck on a long cord, contains a portrait of a man. The reverse has two ship portraits, one identified as the "Swan" and the other as the "Boston". Both ships are flying assorted flags and pennants, including an American flag flying off the stern. Length 7.25".

Illustrated in Scrimshaw and

Provenance: A Third Dictionary of Scrimshaw Artists by Stuart M. Frank (Mystic, Ct.: Stuart M. Frank and Mystic Seaport Museum, 2013), p. 165, fig. 13. Frank writes that Judge Vardeman coined the moniker "Locket Engraver" after identifying six teeth in public and private collections attributed to the anonymous artisan. Others have been more recently discovered. Most depict a lady with a locket and portraits of U.S. Navy vessels.

Provenance:

Richard "Sam" Sylvia, Nantucket, Massachusetts. Sylvia purchased the tooth from someone who discovered it in a newly purchased antique desk.

The Collection of Paul Vardeman.

Condition: Age crack on obverse approx. 1.5".

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