Outstanding engraved poly chrome scrimshaw whales’ tooth with finely etched detailed scenes on both sides American mid-19th century. The obverse depicts a seacoast fort with high stone walls and two levels of cannon and a turreted top. Ther is a large American flag flying from a pole on the right side. To the right is a spit of land showing a two masted schooner behind a rocky pier with a polychrome American flag. At the end of the spit on top of a hill is a lighthouse. To the right of the lighthouse, in the distance is a small two masted gaff rigged schooner. To the far right is a finely detailed image of a ship with Poly chrome flag and false gunports. The opposite side of the tooth shows two ships of a broadside portrait with a whaling scene below. The whaling scene shows six whale boats along the length of the tooth and five whales. The top center whale has red polychrome color around the bottom of the whale.
Provenance: The tooth sold at the Jeff Cohen collection sale at the Bourne auction Gallery in Hyannis MA on July 31st, 1989, lot 79. Both sides of the tooth are color illustrated on pages 36 and 37. The tooth retails the original Cohen collection Lucite base. (SC1260)
Condition: The tooth is in excellent condition and has a fine mellow patina. The inside of the tooth is solid and not hollow like most teeth which makes feel heavy for its size.
Dimensions: Length 5 3/4, Height 2 1/4, Inches
