1A

EXTREMELY RARE AND IMPORTANT SCRIMSHAW WHALE'S TOOTH KNOWN AS THE "MAP TOOTH" Mid-19th Century
Obverse with a finely detailed map or chart depicting New Bedford Harbor, Buzzards Bay and the Elizabeth Islands, including identified locations of New Bedford, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Nashawena and Penikese. Map also includes images of illuminated lighthouses, one on a peninsula between New Bedford and Dartmouth and one at the northern tip of Cuttyhunk, as well as houses and trees near Mishaum Point. At the center is an image of a whaling ship returning to port, with a dotted line to indicate its plotted course. The whaleship is flying an "NYS" house flag from the foremast. Map is interspersed with additional plotted courses and directions including NNE, NE by N, etc. Reverse depicts a very active whaling scene of a whaleship, four whaleboats and six whales. One whaleboat is being stoved by a whale, tossing whalemen into the air. Blood spewing from two whales and some of the surrounding water is colored red. Deep mellow patina. Length 7.5".

Illustrated:
Scrimshaw and Scrimshanders, Whales and Whalemen
by E. Norman Flayderman (New Milford, Ct.: N. Flayderman & Co., Inc., 1972), obverse on p. 2 and reverse on p. 60.

The inside of the tooth is marked 'NH350' in white ink. According to scrimshaw authority John Rinaldi, 'NH' marks followed by a series of numbers indicates a piece was from the collection of Meylert Armstrong of Greenwich, Connecticut and New Hope, Pennsylvania, probably the preeminent collector of scrimshaw from the 1930s to the 1950s.

The February 27, 1958 issue of the Pittsburgh Press said Armstrong was 'Fascinated by the objects themselves and the romance of the old whaling industry' and began collecting scrimshaw pieces in 1930s. 'In the basement of his home he has amassed over 2000 pieces ranging from Biblical scenes engraved on whale tooth to pie crimpers made from whalebone. Though not especially valuable, since there is little demand for it, the scrimshaw is nevertheless a remarkable collection of true Americana. And if the stuff ever comes back into vogue Mr. Armstrong has a fortune made.' The collection was also similarly described in a 1944 Antiques Magazine article and in an April 25, 1955 New York Times article.

Rinaldi claims that when E. Norman Flayderman purchased much of Armstrong's collection out his New Hope, Pennsylvania, home, Flayderman marked the items 'NH', standing for 'New Hope', followed by a series of numbers. The Armstrong Collection formed the nucleus of Flayderman's collection, and a substantial number of the items illustrated in Flayderman's Scrimshaw and Scrimshanders, Whales and Whalemen are from Armstrong's collection. The 'NH' mark is visible on a number of pieces in the book, including a seven-wheel crimper on p. 175 that bears the mark 'NH250' .

In the Spring 2018 issue of the Scrimshaw Observer, Paul Vardeman writes, '... some scrimshaw icons such as the Albatross tooth, the Finney panbone now at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the 'Map Tooth' , the Dove cane, and many more that have now become objects of desire among current collectors were once part of the Armstrong collection. Indeed, it may have been the 'Comstock Lode' for private collectors and museums alike'.

A tooth depicting a map of New Bedford and Buzzard's Bay is illustrated in Ingenious Contrivances, Curiously Carved by Stuart M. Frank (Boston: David R. Godine, 2012), fig. 6:24b. Another tooth depicting a primitive map is attributed to the Pagoda/Albatross Engraver.

While there are more than thirty 'Susan's Teeth' by Frederick Myrick and numerous teeth by Edward Burdett, there is just one other example of a map tooth, which is part of the New Bedford Whaling Museum collection. This is an extraordinary opportunity to add an exceedingly rare and interesting example to your collection.
.

Obverse with a finely detailed map or chart depicting New Bedford Harbor, Buzzards Bay and the Elizabeth Islands, including identified locations of New Bedford, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Nashawena and Penikese. Map also includes images of illuminated lighthouses, one on a peninsula between New Bedford and Dartmouth and one at the northern tip of Cuttyhunk, as well as houses and trees near Mishaum Point. At the center is an image of a whaling ship returning to port, with a dotted line to indicate its plotted course. The whaleship is flying an "NYS" house flag from the foremast. Map is interspersed with additional plotted courses and directions including NNE, NE by N, etc. Reverse depicts a very active whaling scene of a whaleship, four whaleboats and six whales. One whaleboat is being stoved by a whale, tossing whalemen into the air. Blood spewing from two whales and some of the surrounding water is colored red. Deep mellow patina. Length 7.5".

Illustrated:
Scrimshaw and Scrimshanders, Whales and Whalemen
by E. Norman Flayderman (New Milford, Ct.: N. Flayderman & Co., Inc., 1972), obverse on p. 2 and reverse on p. 60.

The inside of the tooth is marked 'NH350' in white ink. According to scrimshaw authority John Rinaldi, 'NH' marks followed by a series of numbers indicates a piece was from the collection of Meylert Armstrong of Greenwich, Connecticut and New Hope, Pennsylvania, probably the preeminent collector of scrimshaw from the 1930s to the 1950s.

The February 27, 1958 issue of the Pittsburgh Press said Armstrong was 'Fascinated by the objects themselves and the romance of the old whaling industry' and began collecting scrimshaw pieces in 1930s. 'In the basement of his home he has amassed over 2000 pieces ranging from Biblical scenes engraved on whale tooth to pie crimpers made from whalebone. Though not especially valuable, since there is little demand for it, the scrimshaw is nevertheless a remarkable collection of true Americana. And if the stuff ever comes back into vogue Mr. Armstrong has a fortune made.' The collection was also similarly described in a 1944 Antiques Magazine article and in an April 25, 1955 New York Times article.

Rinaldi claims that when E. Norman Flayderman purchased much of Armstrong's collection out his New Hope, Pennsylvania, home, Flayderman marked the items 'NH', standing for 'New Hope', followed by a series of numbers. The Armstrong Collection formed the nucleus of Flayderman's collection, and a substantial number of the items illustrated in Flayderman's Scrimshaw and Scrimshanders, Whales and Whalemen are from Armstrong's collection. The 'NH' mark is visible on a number of pieces in the book, including a seven-wheel crimper on p. 175 that bears the mark 'NH250' .

In the Spring 2018 issue of the Scrimshaw Observer, Paul Vardeman writes, '... some scrimshaw icons such as the Albatross tooth, the Finney panbone now at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the 'Map Tooth' , the Dove cane, and many more that have now become objects of desire among current collectors were once part of the Armstrong collection. Indeed, it may have been the 'Comstock Lode' for private collectors and museums alike'.

A tooth depicting a map of New Bedford and Buzzard's Bay is illustrated in Ingenious Contrivances, Curiously Carved by Stuart M. Frank (Boston: David R. Godine, 2012), fig. 6:24b. Another tooth depicting a primitive map is attributed to the Pagoda/Albatross Engraver.

While there are more than thirty 'Susan's Teeth' by Frederick Myrick and numerous teeth by Edward Burdett, there is just one other example of a map tooth, which is part of the New Bedford Whaling Museum collection. This is an extraordinary opportunity to add an exceedingly rare and interesting example to your collection.
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Condition: No damages noted.
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July 19, 2018 10:00 AM EDT
East Dennis, MA, US

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