Scrimshaw Engraved Whales Tooth Depicting a Young American Sailor, Attributed to the Albro Brothers, Circa 1850
InformationSmall beautifully polished whales tooth attributed to one of the Albro brothers from Newport Rohde Island circa 1850. One side depicts a well-dressed sailor with short waisted jacket with a walking stick standing on a checkerboard-patterned boardwalk. To his left is an image of a ship coming towards the viewer and to the right a finely detailed two masted top sail schooner flying an American flag showing a port side profile. Above the sailor is a typical style sun face with engraved sun-rays showing in various directions. This sun face has a typical design style typical of the ones scene in many signed Albro signed pieces. The opposite side depicts a young girl standing beside a tall potted rosebush, reaching out one hand to grasp a flower and holding a floral sprig in her other hand. The scene is flanked by vines and topped with a detailed swag. This rendering of a female under a swag supported by in this case vertical vines is also a typical design motif seen in many Albro teeth. (SC1246)
Reference: Wandering Whalemen and their Art, A Collection of Scrimshaw Masterpieces” by Alan Granby 2022. Page 108 on the upper right shows a similar tooth with the sailor on one side and the woman with the swagger above on the opposite. Page 103 shows a tooth signed by Caleb Albro which shows a radiating sun on one side of this tooth and a more similar sun face on the opposite side located at the horizon with a similar treatment of the engraved sun rays.
Condition: The tooth has a mellow age patina. There is a tiny chip on one side of the tip. There are a few typical age cracks around the base.
Height: 4 1/2 Inches
Circa 1850
