Whalebone busk

busk

SCRIMSHAW & ALLIED ARTS - BUSKS
marad; scrimshaw
USA, MA, Cape Cod
1842
bone
Overall: 13 5/8 x 1 5/8 x 1/4 in.

Whalebone busk with lobed top, decorated with sunburst symbols; portrait of woman framed by interlocking half-rounds and dated 1842; flowers in heavily cross-hatched pot; flowering branches; pair of lovebirds and 4 hearts atop an altar decorated with hourglass; pair of rosettes flanking bold 5-point star, leafy branches below; another sunburst symbol at rounded base of busk. Narrow margins scribed along entire edge of piece. Inked in black and red.

1936.80