Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Ivory Cane top the Pirate sails again!

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Ivory Cane top the Pirate sails again!

    Like most folks that Skulk round these Haunts. They collect lots of interesting goodies. I was lucky enough years ago to aquire this Carved Ivory Walking stick /Cane top. The Carving is Amazing. Intricate. Best of all it's a Pirate. So I kinda group it in with the few Whaling related stuff I've accumulated over the years. It's very Old. The Iron Screw in base appears that it may be hand threaded. My guess is the carved insignia is possibly "Initial or makers Hallmark? Did an old Seaman or Wailer back in the early 1800s Walk the Boardwalks of Atlantic or pacific coastal towns sporting this Artifact? Only the Shadow Knows! To quote an old source.

  • #2
    That' cool! Kind of looks like homer simpson ha.
    http://joshinmo.weebly.com

    Comment


    • #3
      Very cool cane top. The clay pipe is a nice touch. Click image for larger version

Name:	dollar.jpg
Views:	30
Size:	39.1 KB
ID:	232410
      Bruce
      In life there are losers and finders. Which one are you?

      Comment


      • #4
        SNS - that really looks like something a sailor would have made. The attention to detail such as the missing front tooth, the way the hair is wrapped to keep the hair out of his eyes during heavy wind and, of course, as Bruce pointed out, the way the clay pipe is tucked into the headdress. Most civilians would miss the finer points this carving has. I think you got it right. On some of the submarine patrols I went on, I have seen sailors create amazing articles from things like brass shell casings, intricate engravings and carvings. ...Chuck
        PS. I used to listen to The Shadow on the radio (before tv) when I was a kid.............
        Last edited by Scorpion68; 11-22-2016, 10:47 PM.
        Pickett/Fentress County, Tn - Any day on this side of the grass is a good day. -Chuck-

        Comment


        • #5
          Wow Chuck! I owe You and Bruce thanks! You boys sure have knack for Detail. I never noticed the tucked Pipe before! I focused so much on the intricate face and teeth I missed that. Folk carvings from Rev War,civil war , Whaling period , all eras for that matter are special. It seems that Man Has whittled and carved since primitive times. Just a spiritual connection working with the hands and creating I guess. I want to also Thank you and all Veterans, for your Service to the Country my friend!

          Comment


          • Scorpion68
            Scorpion68 commented
            Editing a comment
            I appreciate your thanks and I really consider it a privilege to have served.

        • #6
          thats very cool, was it on a cane when you got it. the eyeball looks so real.

          Comment


          • #7
            Thanks. The original Cane/ stick was not with the Pirate. Over the years,I Thought about finding a very old Cane stick to match up to it. Just never have.

            Comment


            • #8
              That's a beautiful item. I love the small details that give it the mark of authenticity. Did you also notice for example that the eye-patch is square and not well-secured over the eye? The notion of semi-circular eye-patches with a thong being worn by pirates to cover a missing eye is a later romantic invention largely promulgated by swashbuckling pirate movies of the 1940s and 1950s.

              Most pirates had both their eyes, but moving from above deck to below deck often required the eyes to quickly adapt from daylight to near darkness. Smart pirates with both eyes intact frequently wore a loose cloth patch over one eye so that it was already adapted for dim light and they could flip/tuck it out of the way when necessary.

              The symbol engraved in the top is, I think, an old ornate gothic letter ‘I’ and likely the initial of the owner (probably also the maker) who most probably had a name beginning with ‘J’. Up until the early to mid-1800s it was common (for those who could write) to use the Latin alphabet, which has no letter ‘J’ and uses the letter ‘I’ as a substitute. So, JACK would have been written as IACK. It has no letter ‘U’ either, so JACK BUTLER for example would have been written as IACK BVTLER.
              I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.

              Comment


              • #9
                Wow! Thanks for sharing. I Did not know that the Eye patch had a designed purpose. I could see patch like that would even today be useful in tactical situation's. I thought the insignia was maybe a letter/ initial. Thanks for confirming that.

                Comment

                Working...
                X