New This Week:

4.41  SCRIMSHAW CRIBBAGE BOARD.  Exceptional early 1900’s carved and inlaid cribbage board fashioned from the large tusk of a bull walrus.  This superb example of early Alaskan Eskimo trade output far surpasses the quality of most of its genre which were simply decorated with incised pictographs.  This cribbage board is actually carved in relief, and then, if that were not enough, it is inlaid with baleen separators throughout its length!  The charming vignettes depict a fox chasing an arctic hare on the left and a stately reindeer on the right.  In the center is the cribbage board with 6 successive rows of holes for the pegs used in that game.  The rows are meticulously inlaid with insets of whale baleen.  The base of the tusk was drilled to house pegs.  It rests on two sculpted feet composed of pinned and pegged whale tooth ivory.  The tusk measures 18 inches long by 2 5/8ths inches wide at the widest.  Excellent untouched original condition showing 100 years of age. Price Request

7.56  REFERENCE BOOK.  Kornelia Takacs, "Compass Chronicles," 2010, Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, PA.  176 pages hard cover with dust jacket.  Profusely illustrated in color with many technical drawings and advertisements faithfully reproduced in black and white.  The young authoress has done an exceptional job of researching and documenting in words and pictures the nature of and the evolution of pocket compasses, particularly those of American and European origins.  The wealth of information on the subject contained here really defies imagination.  Give Miss Takacs an A+ for this effort.   Cover price $39.99.  This copy is a brand new, mint, untouched.  29

16.15  WORLD WAR I GOGGLES.  Very rare surviving pilot’s or motorcyclist’s goggles dating to or before World War I.  This cloth and leather pair consists of 4 glass panels held in metal frames.  Indicative of their early manufacture the glass is not curved, but has wrap around sides.  The top and bottom have small breather holes within metal grommets.  The goggles themselves are 9 inches wide with the cloth straps extending to 36 inches in width overall.  These goggles are in frail condition evidencing some hand-stitched repairs.  That noted, the glass panels are in excellent original condition.  These very scarce early goggles make a great statement as a genuine testament to a bygone age over 100 years ago!  59

16.28  SNUFF BOX.   Exquisite early 1800's personal box carved from horn with an unusual hinged lid.  The unique hinge is actually carved top and bottom out of contiguous material.  There is no metal.  The hinge is part of the box!  The body of the lid is also carved from horn with a layer of decorative tortoise shell laminated on top.   Crowning the presentation is a very delicate and elaborate inlay of silver wire with an oval cartouche.   The workmanship lavished on this piece is of exceptional quality.   We have never seen better! 349

1.23 OIL PAINTING ON GLASS. J. Bell, English, late 19th century, oil on milkglass commemorative painting of the early steamer identified as “S.S. New England, Liverpool” in fancy lettering on the encircling life ring. This genuine ship’s portrait is very detailed and colorfully presented, “framed” within a classic old life ring, adorned with garlands and a ship’s mast with the vessel’s house flag. The portrait depicts the vessel flying the American flag from the foremast and the British ensign at the stern. The painting itself measures 9 ½ by 11 ½ inches sight. It is housed in its original carved walnut frame with gilt liner under old wavy glass secured with square nails. The frame measures 14 ¼ inches wide by 15 ¼ inches high. Outstanding original condition in all respects! A delightful presentation. Was $1395 NOW! 795

15.23 SAILING SHIP CREW PHOTO. Original late 19th C. silver plate photograph depicting the entire crew assembled on deck in front of a massive square-rigged mast. Judging by the large number of crewmen and their uniforms this was a military ship. The officers are seated with the distinguished Captain front and center. Flanking him are his officers and a civilian in a white suit, perhaps a dignitary posing for the occasion. At least 2 women can be seen posing in the photo. Behind are approximately 100 sailors in the flat hats perched on stanchions, davits, one of the ship’s lifeboats and ventilators. All manner of blocks, tackle and lines surround the scene. One sailor can be seen holding a life ring with the visible letters “INC” perhaps preceded by a “K.” This is undoubtedly the ship’s name which is also visible but indistinct on several of the sailors’ hat ribbons. This large antique image measures 8 by 11 inches sight and is contained under glass in its original decorative oblong mat bearing the photographer’s signature “Nolken & Petersen, AARHUS.” It is surrounded by a fancy gilt liner housed in its original oak frame measuring 18 by 21 inches. Excellent overall condition noting some minor losses to the gilded liner. The photograph itself is perfect. Was $295 NOW! 79 

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.