New This Week:

4.39  BALEEN BUSK.  Classic mid-19th century whaleman-made corset busk beautifully embellished with scrimshaw scenes indicative of the period.  At the top is an elaborate heart the periphery of which is lined with recurring X’s and |||.  In its center are floral sprays.  Below it is an 18th C. house with Towering tree.  Below it is a lovely rose followed by a circular cartouche containing stars .  At the center is woman carrying a flag.  This image is ironically reminiscent of the moon landing!  Below it is another X and ||| division, then a tall church with steeple.  It is followed by a broadside portrait of a lovely maiden in her apron carrying what appears to be fruit.  Below her is a four-leaved ribbon bow, then finally another elaborately-decorated heart.  All of the vignettes are bordered by floral sprays.  To be sure there is some worming characteristic of this mid-19th century folk art form – yet a sure sign of its age.  Fortunately it is on the periphery and does not impact the images at all.  13 3/8 inches long by 1 ½ inches wide.  A very good example of this type of sailor scrimshaw at a very reasonable price.  395

4.20  NYE OIL.  Scarce, fine unopened bottle of Nye whale oil made in the 19th century.  This mint bottle has full original paper labels front and back.  The front reads (in part) “NYOIL 4 Oils Combined For Lubricating Cleaning Polishing and Preventing Rust… The Most Highly Refined Oil That Has Yet Been Produced…Manufactured By Wm F. Nye, New Bedford . Mass. U.S.A.”  The top of the label bears the iconic logo of the company – A whale in a flurry attacked by a whale boat with the mother ship in the background.  The label on the back extols directions and uses of the old, reading “Contains No Acid And Will Not Gum or Stain.”  The bottle retains its original cork stopper with serrated paper sunburst seal covering at the top.  Complete original contents.  As an added value this presentation offers its original cardboard box with an image of the bottle reading “Manufactured By William F. Nye New Bedford Mass. U.S.A." The box is generally intact but toned with age and the top flaps are tattered.  The bottle measures 6 ½ inches tall.  The box is 6 7/8 by 2 by 1 ¼ inch.  Certainly a rare find in this complete, unopened condition.  295

11.30  SHIP IN A BOTTLE DIORAMA.   Extra nice early 20th century ship in a bottle diorama depicting a large 4-masted bark passing a town of exceptional size and complexity.  There are at least 30 buildings, several carved wooden trees and a large clock tower in the background.   The ship, with sleek, graceful hull, is carved from a single piece of wood painted blue with a salmon deck.  It flies the owner’s flag from the fore and the Italian merchant ensign aft.  This fine example of sailor folk art is signed on banners above the town “Armandad Elina / Recordad di mi / Remember to me.”  All of this is captured in time within a long neck whiskey bottle of clear glass, showing its age with a pontil on the bottom and bubbles in the glass.  It is capped off with the original cork bearing a star sealed under sealing wax.  The bottle is 11 inches long by 4 inches in diameter.  A remarkable feature of this presentation is its charming wooden stand with classic "chipped-carved" border and muted green, red and yellow paint.  The stand measures 8 inches long by 3 inches wide.   Condition is exceptional.  The bottle is clear and the interior colors clean and bright.  Price Request

12.82   CREW WATCH DRAW MARKERS.  Rare!  Complete, mint set of 12 numbered brass ship's crew draw markers made by noted nautical makers "John E. Hand & Sons, Philadelphia" as embossed in gold on the blue leather snap case.  This World War II vintage set consists of 12 sequentially numbered brass bars 1 ½ inches long by 3/8 inches wide.  At the start of all maritime voyages, the crew's watch rotation  had to be determined.  A conflict-free way to accomplish this task was for the Chief Officer to lay 12 markers face down on the chart table, shuffle them like dominoes and let each crewman pull a marker.  This method of establishing the watch rotation was quick and without dispute.  New old stock.  A very obscure, little known historical marine relic!   149

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! Price Request

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.

23.25  SIGNING ON PAPERS.  Very rare, folio document of herculean size boldly titled “UNITED STATE OF AMERICA   It Is Agreed between the Master and Seamen, or Mariners of the Ship Eagle of Penobscott, Me, whereof William Gectorn is at present master, now bound from the Port of Boston to Norfolk, Va…  This original document contains the signatures of 5 seamen dated “Boston April …”  Columns include “NAMES, PLACE OF RESIDENCE, STATION, MONTHLY WAGES ($14 - 15), DAY OF DISCHARGE, etc.”  Most men have signed on for one month. Quite amusingly, the very top of the page boldly reads "No Ardent Spirits Allowed On Board." The reverse bears the impressive letterhead of “CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES” with a proud American eagle at the top.  It reads, “AN ACT for the Government and Regulation in the Merchants’ Service, Passed at the second session, begun and held at the City of New York, on Monday the 4th of January 1790.”  Below it “CHAP, 23.  AN ACT in addition to the several Acts regulating the shipment and discharge of Seamen, and the duties of Consuls Approved July 20, 1840.”  The document is neatly folded into quarters and measures 16 inches wide by 21 inches tall.   It is done on high quality parchment paper in a remarkable state of original preservation with no tears, losses, stains or damage of any kind!   The penmanship is legible and distinct. Although undated as to the year, this official document surely dates to the second quarter of the 1800’s.  A very rare early American seafaring document.  Quite suitable for framing. Price Request

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.