RARE CARVED SPERM WHALE IVORY AND ABALONE SHELL SEAHORSE JAGGING WHEEL, 19TH CENTURY

In good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Many whalers preferred the jagging wheel–or pie crimper–as a showcase for their originality. A common kitchen device with a crenellated wheel to trim and perforate pie crusts, it may have been made by scrimshanders in response to a longing for home and decent food. The clenched fist jagging wheel, with a two-pronged fork for testing pie crust, is almost weaponlike. Fists were sometimes carved with the thumb aligned with the fingers, a position said to connote friendship. This scrimshander, however, used the traditional defiant clenched fist. The dainty handle of the open heart jagging wheel was cleverly carved from a single sperm whale tooth, and its heart-shaped terminus strongly suggests that it was intended as a gift for a loved one. A master carver fashioned the handle of the hand and cuff jagging wheel from a single piece of walrus ivory; the cuff buttons are made with nail heads. The strongly masculine quality of the piece belies the delicate task for which the utensil was designed. And the glorious sea horse jagging wheel transcends its utilitarian purpose and exemplifies the art of scrimshaw at its most elegant and refined. The sea horse, a common motif in nautical arts, is unusual in scrimshaw.

Excerpted from Kenneth R. Martin, "Sea Horse Jagging Wheel," in Stacy C. Hollander, American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 532.