Whaler's Scrimshaw Ditty Box, ca. 1830
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GUEST:
I brought a box that my father's cousin gave me. They went to Asia to live in 1915 and stayed there until '36. In '54, when I got married, I lived in Harrington. Anne, she would call me to do her handyman work. And I never charged her anything. And she gave me this in 1960. And she died the next year, so I know nothing about it. And she said, "It's not cheap. It's a, it's valuable."
APPRAISER:
What do you think it is?
GUEST:
I thought it was a ivory box, it...
APPRAISER:
The easy leap of faith is to say it might have been made in Asia.
GUEST:
That's my thoughts.
APPRAISER:
Yeah.
GUEST:
It was full of shells. She told me she walked the coastline and picked up the shells and put them in there.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
So wherever they was living, they were close to water.
APPRAISER:
Okay, well, what we have, what you're looking at, is a scrimshawed, whalebone New England sailor's ditty box-- they call them ditty boxes.
GUEST:
Okay. Ditty box.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, because the sailors put personal, small personal items in there.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And this is really a beautiful one.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
You can see these wonderful floral arrangements.
GUEST:
Oh, yeah, yeah.
APPRAISER:
There's a small scene there.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
A memorial scene. See this wonderful construction with the fingers?
GUEST:
Oh, yes. Yeah.
APPRAISER:
And how they're put together with these beautiful little nails? And it's fully decorated.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
So, this would have been made by a sailor, probably off a whaling ship, somewhere around 1830, 1840.
GUEST:
Oh, yeah?
APPRAISER:
Things move around the world.
GUEST:
Oh, yeah.
APPRAISER:
Whalers moved around the world.
GUEST:
Oh, yes.
APPRAISER:
So, we were whaling all over the world, and I can't rule it out, but for cataloguing it, it's not logical to say that this was made and left in Asia, and your relatives picked it up.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm, right, I have no idea. (murmurs)
APPRAISER:
Yeah, I, I would think they purchased it either before or after they returned. It has a beautiful lid, and they're trying to show this wonderful exotic wood, which is mahogany.
GUEST:
Uh-huh, I thought it was.
APPRAISER:
And then you turn it over, and you see the thin layer of whale bone.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm. Of whale bone.
APPRAISER:
Now, this was not easy to make. This came from the jawbone of a sperm whale.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And it's called the pan bone, P-A-N. And they had tools for actually cutting the pan bone into thin strips.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
They would then steam the strips, and they became more pliable.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
And they were able to bend them around a form and then nail them very fastidiously...
GUEST:
Yeah, yeah.
APPRAISER:
...and form these boxes. These are very highly sought-after, and this is a very, very good one. There are parts of it that could be better. But in terms of this particular box, in today's market, which has been a little challenged, I would feel very comfortable putting a retail valuation of $6,000 to $8,000.
GUEST:
Oh, wow. I had no idea. That's why I brought it. I, as I say, I got it in '60, and I knew nothing about it. So I, that's why I come to the ROADSHOW. I wanted to learn something.
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