Rare and Important nest of Seven Nantucket Lightship Baskets signed by Captain James Wyer and Dated 1873
InformationNantucket, Massachusetts, 1873, all but smallest basket with incised "J Wyer" or "J. Wyer" and year, painted "M E" and stenciled "Starbuck" to undersides of maple bases, hickory ribs, rattan weavers, oak handles and rims, all but the two largest baskets with bases decoratively turned at the interior, largest approx. 8-1/2 x 12-5/8 x 12-3/8 in. The baskets have Hickory ribs, oak rims and handles. The swing handles are fixed to the rims by elongated brass ears inserted through the rim and held under weave. The five smaller baskets have finely turned maple circular bottoms with various concentric scribed or reeded rings. The largest two baskets are have plain bottoms. All but the the smallest basket is engraved "J. Wyer 1873" and signed in paint "M.E. Starbuck". (FA1232)
Provenance:
Captain James Wyer, Master of the Whaleship "Spartan" Nantucket, Massachusetts
Mary Eliza Starbuck (stepdaughter of Captain Wyer) Nantucket, Massachusetts
Mrs. Laughlin, Nantucket, Massachusetts, Mother of Edgar Seeler
Edgar and Katherine Seeler Orange Street, Nantucket
Nantucket, Massachusetts: Rafael Osona, Nantucket, Massachusetts, Summer 1996, lot 280;
Wayne Pratt, Inc., Nantucket, Massachusetts, August 1996 sold the baskets to (accompanied by copy of receipt) Collection of Dr. George and Connie Manger
Literature: This group is pictured in Nantucket Lightship Baskets by Katherine and Edgar Seeler, 1972, fig. 31 p.76, and appears on the cover. This group is also pictured in The Magazine Antiques, May 1999, p.724.
Note: Captain James Wyer (1816-1899) started his maritime career as a cooper aboard the ship Nantucket, and eventually served as master of the whale ship Spartan. After the death of his wife in 1860, he moved to California where he worked as a carpenter for several years. He later returned to Nantucket and married Lois Starbuck in 1866, becoming stepfather to her two children Mary Eliza and Henry Pease. It is around this time that he is believed to have started making lightship baskets, which he continued to do through the 1890s. Mary Eliza writes about her stepfather making lightship baskets in her book My House and I. He is widely regarded as a premier Nantucket craftsperson and one of the earliest makers of lightship baskets. This nest was passed from Wyer to Mary Eliza, who at some point sold them to Mrs. James Laughlin. Laughlin's son Edgar and his wife Katherine assembled the Edgar and Katherine Seeler collection of baskets and published the previously mentioned book on the subject. The baskets were eventually brought to auction and sold by Rafael Osona for $55,000. A similar group can be found in the collections of the Nantucket Historical Association (see accession #1900.0046.001a-g), and was included in their 1994 exhibit "The Lightship Baskets of Nantucket, A Continuing Craft."
1873
