Title

Double-ended ditty box

Date19th Century

Mediumwhale skeletal bone, tortoise shell, wood, non-ferrous metal

Dimensions5 1/4 × 6 1/2 in. (13.3 × 16.5 cm)

Object number1948.30.377

Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum

DescriptionDouble-ended round box with whale skeletal bone sides, two-lobe overlap joint, yellow metal fastenings; two slip-on lids of wood, with skeletal bone skirts repeating the two-lobe overlap joint with copper fastenings; the tops each overlaid with tortoise shell; the underside of one top is plain wood, the underside of the other has a false "bottom" spaced slightly below, and is polychrome painted with a flowering leafy vine surrounding a circular (disc) overlay of tortoise shell. Inside the box at the equator is suspended a wooden disc "bottom", polychrome painted on one side with a basket of fruit on a stand under drapes, on the other side with a flower arrangement in a broad vase; additionally, there is a wooden disc of the same size, loose, forming a kind of removable shelf, with small toggling brass ring screwed on as a handle; polychrome painted on the obverse side with silhouettes of a cow (which looks like a mule) and a horse under a tree, surrounded by a multi-colored starburst pattern with two small tortoise shell inlays; on the reverse side with a complex sperm whaling scene of a full-rigged ship under sail, two whaleboats in pursuit with harpooners at the ready, seven whales in various attitudes, some spouting blood. 4 pieces.

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