Title

Coconut-Shell Dipper

Dateundated

Mediumcoconut shell, whale ivory, whale skeletal bone, wood, non-ferrous metal

Dimensions4 3/8 x 3 7/8 x 17 3/8 in. (11.1 x 9.8 x 44.1 cm)

Object number1923.6.26

Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum

DescriptionPlain coconut-shell bowl; mounting flange and foreshaft of whale ivory full-round carved in the form of a nude female figure from the waist down in a squatting position, supported by a wishbone-shaped pedestal; three non-ferrous rivet fastenings; curved and tapered ebony handle that has squared edges with concave chamfers, and a diamond-and-circle motif inaid in whale ivory on three sides; pommel of whale skeletal bone continues and resolves the chamfer pattern, and terminates in a fixed ring, holding a pivoting loop of whale ivory to accommodate a hook or lanyard; two additional non-ferrous fastener pins. Compare the full-round-carved mounting flange and diamond-and-circle inlay with 1923.6.49.Label TextMaker once known, coconut shell dipper, undated. Coconut shell, whale ivory, whale skeletal bone, ebony, and non-ferrous metal, 4 3/8 x 3 7/8 x 17 3/8 in., New Bedford Whaling Museum, 1923.6.26.ProvenanceEstate of Nathan C. Hathaway (1851-c1923). Exhibited: "The Flowering of American Folk Art," 1974: Whitney Museum of American Art (N.Y.C.), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond), M.H. de Young Mem. Mus. (S.Fo.).

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