Posted 12 years ago
blunderbuss2
(199 items)
Picked this up off of a 90 ft Fife in the roadsted of St. Eustatius in the 80's. (Batteries were not included) Beautiful scrimshaw work & passed all the tests. Even took it to a State archives where there was somebody who was familiar with them & he declared after a week that the ivory was authentic but the engraving was more modern. Still searching for verification, I checked with other experts who replied that the design was known as an expert fake. Even U.S. Customs had tried to seize it twice but I talked them out of it claiming that it was dated 1779 and therefore an antique.
It was dropped some 5 yrs ago & a corner broken. Underneath did not pass the hot needle test. So well made that it was in layered with a heat-proof outer layer. Guess the only way to verify today's pieces is to drill a tiny hole. "Buyer beware".
This is a GREAT posting, LOVE it. thanks for sharing and the info on "Buyer Beware" Kerry
This stuff is better known as fakeshaw scrimshaw. I use to hand paint it for a company in New Hampshire. It was Artek Inc. During the mid 1990's they were doing a booming business and hired local folks to take stuff home and paint it as a part time job. It was all piece work but if you worked fast it paid well. City people and visitors along the Mass. NH coast paid well for a sharks tooth or anything else that looked like it was scrimshaw. It was never advertised as being ivory but the fine print was really fine. The painting took less than a minute per piece. You actually put paint all over the engraved area then hold it under water and wash off the paint. The paint they use will stay in the engraved area and wash off the remaining raised portion. Some of the stuff like the water fowl series was done as a collectible series. Lots of people bought it like a stamp collection or any other collection. I still have a number of artist signed pieces that had minor flaws. They let us keep anything that had a flaw.
Very interesting. Believe this came from the U.K..
Real or not, doesn't matter. I still think it's one of the neatest things I've seen in awhile. Of coarse, I like some different things, I'll contest to that, But this is really got my eye, looked in on this several times. Gotta LOVE it!!!!!!!!
Glad you enjoyed it that much kerry. I have also for almost 2 decades. Neat show & conversation piece especially when you live in the islands where it is possible to see these things sometimes. Lot of whalers came from down this way & I've seen a number of whales teeth in homes. An old lady I was good friends with in Statia had 2 that she used as door-stops & they both had prayers in them done with tiny holes forming the letters. She promised them to me but I moved & sure she is dead by now.
Neat you've had this for that long and it still a subject of conversation. I have a couple of ivory piece and some scrimshaw art, but nothing this large. Again, thanks for sharing and I will bounce back in from time to time to admire this piece.
lovely piece blunder and great information in the posting -- amazing the trickery sometimes used -- you do get around!!! -- have a great weekend blunder
Glad you do id. It's one hell of a fake and great keepsake.
great story and warning blunder!
Ho2, did the door get blown shut and you're locked in the CW morgue ? LOL !! Yeah, still have it & just another thing to dust. Think I'll tag a few more close-ups to this post tomorrow. It really is a well done fake & hand done.
Doesn't matter what it is or isn't, it is absolutely beautiful!!!