New This Week:

4.93  AUTHENTIC SCRIMSHAW.  A good example of the late 19th century whaleman's art of scrimshaw.  It is embodied in a genuine sperm whale tooth deeply engraved on both sides in the artistic form known as intaglio.  The front depicts a young sailor in classic dress with tied kerchief and flat hat standing behind a seated "old salt" intent on working a piece of scrimshaw in both hands.  He wears a traditional Kepi hat.  The sailor pair are next to an old fashioned capstan.  The reverse depicts a port bow view of a 2-maseted man-o-war under sail.  The brig flies streaming pennants from both masts and the broadside shows at least 6 cannon protruding from their gun ports.  The tooth is in nice condition with a rich age patina throughout.  The inked etching is very contrasty.  5 ½ inches as measured on the curve and 2 inches wide.  895

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

4.54  SCRIMSHAW LETTER OPENER.  Genuine mid-19th century American whaleman-made utilitarian scrimshaw in the form of a rarely found letter opener.  This unique example is constructed entirely of the dense panbone of a sperm whale’s jaw.  The long thin blade is slightly thicker down the middle, tapering to a fine edge on both sides.  It is attached to the handle with a perfect mortised fit using two silver rivets to hold it in place.  The joint is decoratively-rounded with a carved ridge at the base of the handle.  This letter opener measures 9 ¼ inches long overall.  The blade is 5 ¾ inches and the handle is 5 inches (accounting for the joint).  Outstanding original condition with a nice age patina indicative of its 150+ years.  329

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

6.56 BULLET BLOCKS. Excellent matched pair of scarce 19th century rigging pulleys known as “bullet blocks” because of their sculpted oval shape. These early blocks have shaped cheeks formed of carved solid mahogany. The internal sheaves are made of dense lignum vitae wood secured on pivots rove through both sides of each block. These identical blocks measure 4 inches long by 2 ½ inches in diameter. Outstanding original condition. Very rare to find a matched pair of working ship’s tackle surviving in such remarkable original condition. 149/pr

9.20  PORTABLE  SURVEYOR's SIGHTING COMPASS. Very high quality late 19th century surveyor's pocket compass of French manufacture. This genuine scientific instrument has a surprising array of multiple features. It is two–tiered. There is a magnetic compass showing direction on the upper scale of the silvered brass dial calibrated in single degrees from 0 to 360 marked by 10's. The compass needle has an agate pivot, indicative of its quality. The lower tier on the Western edge is marked in degrees of declination in single degree increments starting with 90 at North, then 0 at West increasing again to 90 South.  The scale is overlaid by a very fine brass inclinometer which indicates single degrees. Yet a third function is the ability to sight a bearing using the 2 folding sighting vanes in blackened brass finish on the North and South sectors. The brass was blackened to negate the effects of the sun's glare.  For carrying, the compass is equipped with a compass needle caging device at the East point. For determining inclination there is a flat bar attached to compass body on the West end for alignment with the surface being measured.  Although unmarked this precision instrument is undoubtedly French. This complicated device is all brass and fits snugly into its velvet lined case of wood overlaid by Moroccan leather. Complete with original brass snap closure.  The instrument measures 3 5/8 inches in diameter and 3 7/8 inches wide overall.  The case is 4 ¼ inches in diameter and 1 ½ inches thick.  This is a multi-functional compendium of the highest quality, in remarkable condition, well over 130 years old!  It is the first of its type we have encountered in such beautiful condition with its original pristine wood and leather case with velvet lining. 669

9.08   HYDROMETER FLOAT.  Pristine precision shipboard scientific instrument used to determine the specific gravity of a liquid, in this case the purity of water in the ship's boilers.  This nickel-plated brass float is marked "Hezzanith, Made In England 60o" and is calibrated from .0035 to .0050, representing the difference in the ratio of the liquid being tested to pure water in thousandths.  0.000 being pure water.  In another application a very similar instrument was routinely used in the distilling industry to determine the proof of spirits (alcohol and water).  39

"Hezzanith" was the trade name of Henry Hughes & Son, a well known nautical instrument maker established in early 1800's England into the mid-20th Century..

16.16  AMERICAN TELLURIUM.   Extremely rare 4th quarter of the 19th century American planetary model by “A.H. ANDREWS & CO. CHICAGO” as signed in relief on the ornately decorated cast support arm.  It is additionally signed in the maker’s cartouche located in the northwestern Pacific, “A. ANDREWS 8 Inch TERRESTRIAL GLOBE with the latest discoveries and ocean currents A. H. Andrews & Co. Chicago.”  This amazing apparatus depicts the earth revolving about the sun in the center of the weighted stand with a proportional radial sector of the sun in brass indicating serrated “flames.”  Between the sun and the earth is a moveable rod on which a wooden orb representing the moon is attached.  These ride on a pedestal atop a very heavy cast iron base which is encircled with the 12 signs of the Zodiac.  Each of the 12 quadrants is charmingly decorated with an image of the mythological sign, the month, the degrees from North and the points of the compass.  These lithographed images are somewhat faded with time, but still very colorful and legible.  Attached to the swinging support arm opposite the earth is an arrow which indicates the earth’s position on the Zodiac as it orbits the sun.  The earth is represented by a globe made in the traditional manner with a plaster sphere overlaid by 12 lithographed gores.  The detail of the geography is of a very high standard with multi-color countries and major cities shown.  As the name implies, ocean and atmospheric currents are notable as is the declination line of the sun between the 2 solstices.  The condition of the globe is excellent and original with no damage of repairs, noting good age toning to its protective varnish.  The North Pole is fitted with a moveable brass arrow to highlight a specific Meridian or geographical feature.  Surround the globe is a heavy brass cage mounted to the support arm.  It has two Meridian Circles and one Equatorial circle connected to a removable swan’s neck support on the arm   Construction and materials throughout are of the highest order!  21 ½ inches wide and 16 ½ inches tall overall.  The base measures 12 inches in diameter.  The entire apparatus weighs 13 pounds. Price Request

The firm of Andrews & Co. was begun by A.H. Andrews in 1866 and continued to flourish into the 1890’s.  At the end of the Civil War this pioneer maker established Chicago as the center for globe manufacturing in America, leading the way for other globe makers to practice their trade.  Names like Rand McNally and Weber Costello continued their production into the end of the 20th century.  (Elly Dekker and Peter van der Krogt, “Globes From the Western World,” 1993, Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd., London).

AUTHENTIC LIGHTHOUSE. The ultimate! This was 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. 135 years old! SOLD

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.