Ladle with deep circular bowl and baluster-turned wood handle fitted into the conical shaft, with two grooves around its top. Bottom outside of bowl has shallow impressed circle around center; bottom inside struck once with partial maker's mark. Interior of bowl cleaned at handle join.
Maker is either Richard Lee Sr. (1747–1823) or his son, Richard Lee Jr. (1775–circa 1858). Lee Sr. was an itinerant pewterer who worked in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Springfield, Vermont, between 1773-1823. Lee Jr. also worked in Springfield from 1795-1815, then Beverly, Massachusetts, from 1816-1820. It is believed both Lees used the same marks, making it difficult to attribute pieces to the father or son.
Plain-rim circular plate with flat well; no foot ring. Cast in face of rim with raised serif letters "I:G" inside a scrolled cartouche opposite a handleless cup or bowl, facing well, next to a five-petaled flower. No other marks apparent. Collector's label and numbers on underside of well.
This New England Bass Viol or Violoncello was made by an unknown maker in New England, about 1850. It has a two-piece table of pine, two-piece back of quarter-cut American maple with faint, fine horizontal figure and added original wings on the upper and lower left bouts, ribs of similar maple, original maple neck, pegbox and scroll with bird's-eye maple pegs (five), and semi-transparent yellow varnish.
This is an unusual instrument with a fifth top e' string and shallow ribs. It retains the neck, fingerboard, bass bar, tailpiece, endpin and pegs in unaltered original condition. The instrument bears typical f-holes connected to the table at the upper and lower wing areas, and ribs that are inlaid into the table and back.
The modern term for this instrument is church bass. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, this instrument was also known as the American bass viol, New England bass viol, or Yankee bass viol. These church basses were used in churches and meeting houses to provide a bass line for maintaining a consistent key by New England congregational singers. The church bass was also used by popular singing groups such as the Hutchinson Family singers.
On the main side of this carved tooth is a generic American sailing ship without any of the conventional attributes of whaling, merchant or naval vessels. It has only a large American flag at the stern to set it apart.
What makes this tooth unusual is the carving on the reverse side. It is a picture of a medieval archer, complete with quiver, arrows, sword and shield. An American flag completes the ensemble, and the archer is capped with a little hat with a feather off to one side. This is almost certainly derived from an image in a contemporary magazine, perhaps of a costumed archer from some sort of a public performance (opera, play, musical group). On long whaling voyages, magazines and newspapers were prized commodities, and whalemen often cut out the pictures, pasted them on polished whale’s teeth and pinpricked through the image to derive an outline for further carving. The pinpricks on this image clearly outline the major details and in this way, even a sailor who couldn’t draw freehand could produce a fine carving on a sperm whale’s tooth.
Pit-bottom teakettle with crooked gooseneck spout and cast-in arched ears on its high, rounded shoulder for the flat-arched, forged wire bail handle; three button feet. Stepped and molded cover has a flared rim and scalloped-edge wedge grip. Both pieces are hollow cast: body has a horizontal seam that extends to top of spout and a single gate mark and raised "8" on bottom exterior.
Box iron with lift-up gate drawn by a square rod with forge-welded spring that slides through a band on the rear handle support. Handle has an incurved cylindrical wood grip and curved-end supports held in place by square thumbscrews; face of front support stamped "2". Four-piece brazed body has a six-spiral, forge-welded grill on sole interior and is supported by three internal rivets, one at each corner. No other marks. No slug.
Rectangular, slat-top, wood-frame foot warmer or stove with opposed double-baluster supports that holds a perforated tin box with hinged door. Box top has three perforated bands; box sides feature three, large punchwork concentric circles and five, small punchwork hearts, those on the door positioned sideways. Wire bail handle hooked through loops on frame top; wire loop door pull. Pinned or doweled through-tenon joints. No marks.