Perhaps no other field within nautical antique collecting is more misunderstood or beset with bogus examples than is the collectible known as "scrimshaw." There are 3 primary reasons for this...

Most dealers and collectors who are concerned with authenticating scrimshaw have heard of the "hot needle test." Well, throw that hot needle away! ...in a safe receptacle of course...

On one occasion, when asked to authenticate a piece of scrimshaw brought to him, the late Paul Madden of Sandwich, Massachusetts, long time dealer and recognized scrimshaw authority remarked, "I don't know, I wasn't there when it was made."

In modern times the navigator's sextant has become widely recognized as a universal nautical symbol. Indeed the sextant and the magnetic compass were the two basic tools of navigation on the high seas for more than two centuries. Often the mariner's most prized possession was his sextant. Witness the drama evoked by the handwritten account found with this 19th century English sextant:

In recent years a tremendous upwelling of interest in deep sea diving has surfaced. Mel Fisher's discovery of an undersea fortune in the wreck of the ATOCHA and the epic movies "TITANIC" and "MEN OF HONOR" have moved diving and its allure to the forefront of public awareness. As an adjunct to the public's enchantment with shipwrecks and diving, a fascination with the equipment used in the early days of underwater exploration has developed...