Two Doves Crimper

Date19th Century

Mediumwhale ivory, wood, metal

Dimensions[H]1/2" __[W]2 5/8" __[D] __[Dia]1 5/8" and 1/2" __[L]7 3/4"

Object number1959.8.16

Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum

DescriptionMassive handle and foreshaft of whale ivory with carved curled ornaments with four metal rivet highlights, perfling, the edges incised with a geometric pattern, with baleen separator; terminating at one end in a whale ivory finial full-round-carved in the form of a fist holding a yellow-metal ring; terminating at the other end in an architectonic pediment with red and green sealing wax highlights; surmounted by two back-to-back birds, formed as relief-carved silhouettes, with 10 metal rivet highlights, each forming a saddle and its eyes formed by a yellow metal axle, one accommodating a small wooden wheel, the other an elaborate openwork wheel having a six-pointed, ornamented maltese cross hub and fluted rim. Same hand as 1919.31.46 (Andrew Snow Collection) at at least one other in a private collection (listed by Paul Madden, Sandwich, Mass., 2004). Ref: M. McManus, Treasury Am. Scrim., 1997, p. 131.ProvenanceMartha M. Hinsdale Scrimshaw Collection; Estate of Martha M. Hinsdale, bequeathed 1955.

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