New This Week:

3.75  BOXED COMPASS.  Pristine, virtually MINT, little American boxed compass with the North point marked by a conjoined “WC,” the trademark of the famous Wilcox Crittenden Company of Middletown, Connecticut.  It also bears the company’s trade label in the bottom dated 1934.  This darling little liquid compass is incredibly detailed.  The composition card is marked in points of the compass down to ¼ points with the Cardinal and Intercardinal points identified.  It is also marked in degrees on the outer periphery 0 - 360 in 2 degree increments.  The center of the open face card has a high quality agate pivot.  This high quality compass is damped by liquid to minimize extraneous movement.  It is housed in a very sturdy solid bronze body slung in gimbals.  It is mounted in the original dove-tailed hardwood box with sliding lid.  The box retains its original marine red paint.  The compass measures    3 inches in diameter.  The box measures 4 3/4 inches square and is 3 3/4 inches deep.  Outstanding original condition in all respects.  The compass is lively and accurate.  329

6.64  PISTOL WITH DAGGER.  Fearsome 19th C. percussion lock pistol.  This large bore double barrel hand gun has 2 independent triggers which can lock the hammers at the half cock position. The barrels pivot forward for loading in that position, with a secure spring-loaded locking device on the left side of the receiver.   The prominent “bayonet” doubles as a sighting device as well as providing a last ditch coups-de-gras to a hapless victim.  The wooden handle is cross-hatched assuring a firm grip.  A swivel eye is provided on the butt for attachment to a lanyard.   The twin barrels have a bore of ½ inch and are 5 ½ inches long.  The body of the pistol is 10 ½ inches long and 1 ½ inches wide.  The overall length with the bayonet is 19 inches.  1949

12.46  EARLY FISHING BOBS.  A charming lot of 4 late 19th century or very early 1900’s carved folk art fishing floats.  These one-of-a-kind wooden floats have small brass eyelets for attachment to the fisherman’s line.  One even has an unusual “spring” on its shaft!  All 4 floats are double-ended with tapering wooden shafts.  Each individual has its unique hand-painted color scheme.  They vary from 4 inches to nearly 6 inches in length.  The original old surfaces show expected wear from actual use, but no abuse with a desirable patina.  195/4

18.68  EARLY NAUTICAL LANTERN.  Scarce English ship’s interior hand-held lamp made by the highly recognized makers “ELI GRIFFITH & SONS BIRMINGHAM” and dated “1907” as impressed on the front of the chimney.  This all brass lantern was entirely hand-made.  With a single glazed port this lantern was designed for inspections of the ship as opposed to illuminating a space.  The forward facing glass panel shows a high quality font and burner backed by a silvered reflector to maximize the light output.  The font and burner are ingeniously complicated.  The burner folds forward to expose the wick for trimming.  There is a separate filler cap for adding oil.  And the wick advance knob can be activated from outside via an aperture closed by a sliding disc and a key hung from a chain on the exterior.  This lamp is well-aspirated with numerous vents above and a single large vent below the burner.  The burner assembly slides in and out through the hinged door on the port side.  A wire bail handle is supplied above the chimney of carrying.  The lamp has 4 solid brass “feet” for setting on a surface.  13 inches tall by 5 inches wide and 4 ¾ inches deep.  Without a doubt this veteran of the sea has seen some hard service.  But it is still in functional condition after nearly 120 years.  Obviously this is a real bargain!  169

4.05  LARGE EXQUISITE CROCHET NEEDLE.  Amazing carved sailor’s work embodied in a very detailed crochet knitting needle made from the solid, very dense bone of a sperm whale’s jaw.  This lovely example of 19th century sailor folk art could be confused with ivory, it so dense and pure.  It consists of a delicately-carved hand at the top holding a rose.  Below are several tiers of architectural carvings including 2 sets of capture balls within fluted columns.   The bottom third exhibits several more carvings and intricate cross hatchings terminating in a tapered tip with a very fine crochet hook.  Workmanship is of the highest order.  8 1/8 inches long.  Outstanding original condition with a nice age patina.  One of the best!  A $1500 value.  695

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

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

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.