This circa 1825-29 polychrome scrimshaw tooth was rendered by Edward Burdett and hunted down Eldred’s highest price for a piece of scrimshaw ever reached by an online bidder at $163,800 ($125/175,000).
Review by Z.G. Burnett; Images Courtesy Eldred’s Auction Gallery
EAST DENNIS, MASS. — The bidding pool was tempestuous in the saleroom of Eldred’s Auction Gallery on August 10 and 11, with in-person participants competing against phone and internet customers during the two-session Marine Sale. Offering almost 600 lots, the auctions’ totals accumulated to $1.76 million with a 77 percent sell-through rate. Most of each auction’s top lots were bought by private US collectors, with some lots going overseas, and all sold either within or above their estimates. Josh Eldred was “thrilled overall” with the sale’s results and with new buyers joining in on both days. “The scrimshaw brought mostly our more traditional bidders with a few new buyers,” Eldred said. “[The second day’s session] brought a lot of new bidders and both had bidders at all different levels, which is always good to see.”
The star of the sales was a polychrome scrimshaw whale’s tooth, the first documented piece of American scrimshaw by Edward Burdett (1805-1833). Burdett embarked on his first whaling voyage at age 17, later joining the crew of the Japan under Captain Shubael Chase (1789-1867). This voyage left Nantucket on December 20, 1825, and returned on December 27, 1824. According to notes in the catalog, this tooth is presumed evidence of Burdett’s presence aboard, despite the lack of written evidence. The tooth shows the Japan portside, “Bound to the USA,” with precise details on the ship, a berry-vine border and crescent-shaped waves that all indicate Burdett’s workmanship. The tooth was in excellent condition with only some wear and loss of color due to age, came with its own whalebone and ebonized wood stand, and was purchased online for $163,800; this is the highest price ever achieved for a piece of scrimshaw from an internet bidder at Eldred’s.
Showing a rich patina concurrent with its age, this whale’s tooth was scrimshawed by the Vignette Engraver and exhibited four different scenes; it sold for $88,200 ($50/70,000).
A few other pieces of scrimshaw stood out during the first session. Second in price was scrimshawed by the Vignette Engraver, named so for the multiple scenes this artist was able to fit onto a single whale’s tooth. This example showed six whales and four whaleboats in different stages of their hunt, and was bid to $88,200. Next was a panbone with a polychrome whaling scene, showing six unfortunate whales pursued by a three-masted whaleship with the house flag “HH” in the foreground, with another ship behind an island in the distance; it sold for $50,400. Following this in price was a pair of scrimshawed whale’s teeth that were two of three British objects to reach the upper lots of this sale. These were decorated with numerous “superb and crisp” engravings that included the British royal coat of arms, the feathery crest of the Prince of Wales, Masonic Eyes of Providence and floral badges of each dominion of the British Isles. The artist was also able to fit a portrait of the ship Iris above an “Australian Station” cartouche with a corresponding bloom and a two-masted schooner on the reverse, and a whaling scene on the rear surface of the other tooth. This pair achieved $30,240.
One important cased American whaleship model sailed to the top of its category, the James Arnold carved by ship model builder Peter Ness (1890-1976). The plank-on-frame model was “scratch built” from mahogany and other materials, showing a whaler figurehead, three masts, an applied stern board with “James Arnold New Bedford” in gold leaf lettering above a spread-winged eagle, an original banner bearing the ship’s name on the main mast. Numerous other, tiny details are present in the model’s construction, which are “highly accurate” according to the lot’s description. The ship is displayed in its original case, also made by Ness, and displayed on a pair of black-banded oil casks set into a mahogany base. The lot also included a dossier of materials related to Ness and the James Arnold. These all sold together for $26,460.
The James Arnold of New Bedford, modeled by master Peter Ness and housed in its original case, sold with a file of relevant materials for $26,460 ($12/15,000).
The second session was more focused on fine art, including seascapes, portraits of ships and the men who commanded them. There was also a selection of ship models, carved whales, nautical tools and other seafaring material culture. Each of the top paintings were from known makers, some with a few examples of their work offered during the second day’s auction.
First among these was “The Packet Ship Margaret Evans Passing Between Fishermen On The Grand Banks” by John Stobart (British, 1929-2023) at $81,900. The Margaret Evans was a full rigged ship that sailed passengers back and forth from New York to various British forts from 1846 to 1865, when she sank off the coast of Livorno, Tuscany, Italy. Signed and dated at 1967, Stobart would have painted this following his first visit to the United States, where he was first offered a show in New York City’s Kennedy Galleries. The other top painting by a Twentieth Century artist was “Two Schooners Off Hyannisport” by William Robert Davis (b 1952), one of America’s most prominent working maritime artists.
Other high-selling ship paintings were created by Nineteenth Century artists. “Dashing Wave” by William Bradford (1823-1892) was second in the session at $50,400. Bradford was also an early photographer and explorer; he traveled with Dr Isaac Israel Hayes to Labrador, where he was one of the first American artists to paint and photograph icebergs. Following this in price was James Edward Buttersworth’s (English, 1817-1894) “Yachts Rounding Sandy Hook Lightship New York Bay” for $40,950. This was one of two Buttersworths offered in the sale; the other was “Yachting In The Sound, With A View Of New York,” for $18,900 ($15/25,000).
“Dashing Wave” by William Bradford took second place in the auction’s second session, racing to $50,400 ($20/30,000).
The sale’s top portrait was from the late Eighteenth Century from the Spanish colonial school, showing Captain Don Juan De Dios Parreno Y Pardo sitting at a table with nautical tools and a ship in the background. Under UV light, there are one or possibly two heraldic coats of arms visible in the upper corners. Although the captain is dressed in the naval uniform of the day, Juan Pardo was a Sixteenth Century explorer who predated Sir Walter Raleigh with a 125-man expedition into the American Carolinas. His second expedition reached the Appalachian Mountain region, thinking it would lead to the silver mines of Mexico. The portrait showed a long provenance that began with the youngest brother of Emperor Franz Josef I, and was bid to $13,860.
Prices quoted with buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Eldred’s August Market will occur on August 30. For information, 508-385-3116 or www.eldreds.com.
