Title

Macomber Busk

DateCirca 1838-1858

Mediumbaleen

Dimensions1 1/2 × 12 3/4 in. (3.8 × 32.4 cm)

Object number1957.4.3

Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum

DescriptionTwo lobes top, squared bottom, decoratively incised and inscribed one side only, signed on verso. Three leafy stems; starboard broadside view of a full-rigged ship undersail; center panel inscribed "This is a present pretty girl for the[e] / Snatch'd from the bossom of the deep blue sea / And been fore many rugged [ ] afar / By thy true faithful friend a Tar"; "R.A." and "S.M."; four leafy boughs on a serpentine branch. Verso: Crossed leafy branches; clearly inscribed "Macomber"; lightly and nearly illegibly inscribed "Rachel Macomber". Condition: Severe very old damage from insect larvae, typical of baleen.

Stephen Macomber (1816-1854) was born at Tiverton, R.I.; at age 15 shipped in the Gideon Howland of New Bedford (1831-34); must have made another voyage or two, specifics unknown, prior to marrying Rachel Andrews (1816-1872) of Dartmouth, Mass., in 1838; was later first mate in the Frances Henrietta (1845-48) and the Vernon (1851-54), and died shortly after.ProvenanceDonor Lillian C. Andrews was a collateral descendant of Rachel Andrews Macomber, wife of the maker, Stephen Macomber.

On View

Not on view