New This Week:

4.79  CARVED EAGLE SCRIMSHAW.  Rare, especially handsome authentic scrimshaw in the form of a detailed American eagle head carved from a single sperm whale tooth.  This precise rendering depicts the elegant bird in exacting detail with a smooth hooked beak, nostril, piercing eyes and realistic plumage.  Adding to its appeal the eyes are accentuated by inlays of black baleen.  The carving measure 5 ½ inches long by 2 ¼ inches thick.  Outstanding original condition with no flaws.  The natural coloration of the core of the tooth and dentin were used effectively by the carver to enhance its realism.  Price Request

Not available or for sale in California.  Shipped from Massachusetts from Massachusetts.

10.89  AMERICAN DIVING HELMET.  Genuine hard hat diving helmet made by America's first and foremost maker, "MORSE DIVING EQUIPMENT COMPANY, INC, BOSTON, MASS. U.S.A." as embossed on the oval maker's tag riveted to the breastplate.  This all copper and brass helmet is Morse's innovative shallow water version used extensively by the U.S. Navy and the commercial fleet for ships' hull inspections, and underwater pier and bridge work.  It did not require the diver to use the bulky canvas dress needed for diving with a Mark V.  This helmet is serial numbered "62-79" as stamped on the faceplate indicating at date of 1962.  It is in good overall condition showing extensive signs of actual use.  The revolutionary contoured faceplate is near prefect (a very important condition factor in these helmets).  Complete with all 4 original lug nuts.  Price Request

See Leon Lyons, "Helmets of the Deep" for further information on this scarce diving helmet. 

12.95  LARGE NET SHUTTLE.  Authentic late 19th century net making tool. This unusually large example is bound with several fathoms of heavy cotton line.  The shuttle is meticulously hand-carved of oak.  Due to being wound with the cordage only the tip and the tail are visible along with both sides of the tool.  Owing to the heft of the line and the size of the shuttle, it is safe to assume it was used in the salt water fishery.  Amazing original condition.  This is a humble working relic, beautifully preserved, from a time gone by. Certainly a museum piece in the fishing-related industry.  95   

16.24  19th CENTURY GLOBE.  Authentic second half of the 1800's terrestrial globe of French manufacture.  The globe is signed in the South Pacific "G. THOMAS Éditeur =PARIS= 44, Rue N.-D.  (Fabrication Francaise)."  This 5 inch variety world globe was made in the traditional way with a plaster core overlaid by 12 chromolithographed paper gores.  The quality and detail for a globe of this size is really amazing.  The globe is supported on its original ebonized turned wooden stand with brass fittings.  11 ¾ inches tall by 6 inches in diameter on the base.  Outstanding original condition.  An absolute "gem" for desk, library or display shelf!  895

In the offerings of noted scientific instrument dealer "Tesseract," a similar 6 inch terrestrial globe, item 1, sold for $950 a quarter of a century ago from catalog 52, Spring of 1996.  (A dollar in 1996 was worth $1.78 today, or $1,691.00.  The price was about double back then what it is now, and this is 25 years older!).

"Thomas, G., Paris," is listed as a late 19th century publisher in Elly Dekker and Peter van Der Krogt's reference book "Globes From The Western World," 1991 Zwemmer, Philip Wilson Publishers, Ltd., London."  A nearly identical globe is featured on the cover of that book.

21.4  BINOCULAR MICROSCOPE.   High grade 19th C. English microscope made for the American market, signed and serial numbered on the base "R. & J. Beck, London 7072." and further engraved on the main tube "J W QUEEN & Co. Agents, Philadelphia & New York."  This finely crafted all brass compound microscope features adjustable Wenham-style binocular body tubes mounted on a sturdy base and stands 14 inches tall as shown. It is complete with a total of 4 objectives and 4 ocular lenses.  It is housed in a lovely African mahogany box with brass furniture measuring 16 inches long.  The lower till houses numerous glass slides while the upper section holds the additional optics, with 11 slots being empty including a separate slot for a light magnifier which is also missing.  Of course the beauty of the innovation embodied in this microscope was the fact that the researcher could view a particular object with both eyes providing a clearer stereoscopic subject.  This rare instrument is in excellent, untouched original condition with most of its original lacquered surfaces.  It is functional and all adjustments operate smoothly and properly.  A most handsome presentation! WAS $2195 NOW! 995

The body tubes of this microscope were designed by W. H. Wenham in 1861, and are adjustable by means of a knurled knob that controls a rack and pinion gear set.  A triangular base supports the limb, which has an adjustable inclination angle through a series of holes in the limb that fit a tabbed hinge plate.  Coarse focus is achieved through a set of knobs that move the inner pillar tube up and down through a rack gear set.  The top of the pillar contains a fine focus knob.  A circular stage contains a central aperture and has a slide carrier to assist in translating specimens during viewing.  According to Turner, this form of the microscope stand was designed specifically to accommodate the Wenham binocular tube and was called "The Popular Microscope".

Richard and Joseph Beck joined in a partnership as opticians at 31 Cornhill, London from 1867-1894.  They were noted for their fine quality microscopes, and were admitted to the Microscopial Society of London.  

James W. Queen & Co. were in business as opticians at 48 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia from 1860-1893.

B-41  EARLY WHALING BOOK.  Rev. Henry T. Cheever, “The Whale and His Captors or The Whaleman’s Adventures.”  1850, Harper Brothers Publishers, New York.  314 pages of content with additional advertisements following.  Hard embossed cloth cover, 4 ¾ by 6 ¾ inches.  This extremely rare antique book describes the whale fishery in pre-Civil War America, complete with several fine steel plate engravings.  Condition is sound with no losses.  Covers are stained and foxed as are end papers.  A nice gold embossed image of a whaleship and boat on the cover. Content is good with some minor water staining evident.  An important old book on the subject.  49

AUTHENTIC LIGHTHOUSE. This is the ultimate! Here is an exceptional opportunity to own a very historic relic of America’s rich maritime heritage embodied in the original lamp room from the famous Ballast Point Lighthouse, which served its sentinel duties in the channel of San Diego Bay from 1890 until 1960. This incredibly well-preserved piece of history was built according to specifications laid out by the U.S. Lighthouse Service in 1885. A copy of the original specifications are included as are much printed references and photographs. Erected in 1890, the 5th Order lighthouse was a significant aid to navigation in conjunction with the Point Loma Lighthouse (1850) poised at the entrance to San Diego Bay. Ballast Point Light was situated further inside the massive bay on a point which jutted into the seaway which posed a hazard to shipping. 13 feet 10 inches high with a maximum width of 8 feet 8 inches. Weight approximately 5 tons. It will require a crane and a flat bed truck for transport. 129 years old! Price Request

HISTORY

On October 2, 1888, recognizing the need for a harbor light in the increasingly congested channel of San Diego Bay, Congress authorized $25,000 for the construction of a lighthouse to be built on Ballast Point. Fashioned in the late Victorian style, the entire structure took 3 months to build beginning in March 1890. The light was first lit on August 1st. It was a sister of the lights at San Luis Obispo and Table Bluff, south of Humboldt Bay. All were wood framed structures with attached living quarters. The ironwork for the lantern was forged in San Francisco and carried south to San Diego by ship. The French firm of Sautter, Lemmonier, & Cie. manufactured the Freznel lens for the Ballast Point Light in 1886. The fixed 5th Order lens was visible for a distance of at least 11 miles.

When California was still part of Mexico the peninsula jutting into San Diego Bay was known as Punta del los Guijarros or “Pebble Point.” For centuries cobblestones washed down by the San Diego River had been deposited on the point. When California gained statehood in 1850 the point was renamed Middle Ground Shoal. As time went on and merchant traffic in the harbor increased, many sailing ships found it convenient to load or discharge the stones as ballast. The practice continued and eventually the name “Ballast Point” stuck.

Accompanying the Ballast Point lighthouse was a huge 2,000 pound fog bell in a wooden tower. In 1928 it was supplanted by a single tone electric diaphone horn.

The first keeper of the light was John M. Nilsson, assigned duty on July 15, 1890. The second was Henry Hall, who took the job on December 1, 1892. Perhaps the most famous keeper was Irish born David R. Splaine, a Civil War veteran and veteran lighthouse keeper, who assumed the post in 1894, having served at Point Conception, the Farallons and San Diego’s own Point Loma light from 1886-1889.

In 1913 the original old kerosene lamp was replaced with an acetylene burner. Acetylene gave way to electricity in 1928. In 1938 a filter was fitted inside the 5th Order Freznel lens giving the light a distinctive green hue for recognition. One of the last keepers of the light was Radford Franke who recalled receiving the order to “douse the light” upon the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

By early 1960 the light was deemed to be of no further service, so in June of that year the lantern room was removed to a salvage yard. The wooden tower and its brick and mortar foundation remained a couple of years later until they too were declared structurally unsafe and demolished. The bell tower continued to survive, mounted with a 375 mm high intensity lamp on its roof. However the value of maintaining any light on Ballast Point diminished with the installation of harbor entrance range lights. In the late 1960’s the bell and its tower were dismantled. The tower found its way to a private residence in Lakeside, California. The bell had a more circuitous later life. It was purchased from a San Diego area junk yard in 1969 for its scrap value of 5 cents per pound! The one ton bell remained on local private property until 1991, when it was put on loan to the San Diego Maritime Museum. In 1999 the bell was transported to the son of the original buyer, living in Colorado. Then in 2002, the bell finally found its way to the home of the owner’s granddaughter living in Vermont, where it rests to this day.

The story of the lantern’s later life is even more fascinating. The nation was just recovering from the Cuban Missile Crisis between JFK and Khrushchev, when in 1964 the Cuban government cut off the fresh water supply to the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay. By that time, an experimental desalinization plant had been in operation at Point Loma for 2 years. The Navy hastily ordered it to be disassembled and shipped through the Panama Canal to Cuba. A gentleman working as a crane operator during the process noted the shabby lantern room in a trash heap nearby. He inquired as to the fate of the relic and was told it was salvage. Asking if he could purchase it, the yard foreman told him he could “have it” if he would haul it away. With that, for the next 34 years the lantern room served as a gazebo in the backyard of the man’s residence in Bonita, California. It was purchased by the present owners in 1998, fully refurbished, and then placed on public display ever since. Now it is time for it to find its next new home. According to the crane operator who delivered the lamp room it weighs approximately 5 tons. It will require a crane and a flat bed truck for removal.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

F. Ross Holland, “The Old Point Loma Lighthouse,” 1978, Cabrillo Historical Association, San Diego, California

Jim Gibbs, “The Twilight of Lighthouses,” 1996, Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, PA.

Kin Fahlen and Karen Scanlon, “Lighthouse of San Diego,” 2008, Arcadia Publishing, San Francisco

Kraig Anderson, “Forgotten Ballast Point “Lighthouse” Seeks New Home,” article in “Lighthouse Digest,” East Machias, Maine, September – October 2011, Vol. XX, no. 5 pages 34 – 37.

“Mains’l Haul,” a periodic publication of the San Diego Maritime Association, Summer 1990, Vol. XXVI, No. 4, pp. 11-12.