AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Antique Accoutrements => Topic started by: jdm on October 04, 2025, 03:22:41 AM
-
I've had this horn a number of years but could find no record of me posting it here. If I have please forgive the repeat performance.This is a large New England horn 17 inches with nice mellow yellow color. There are rosewood pegs holding the butt plug in place.At one time there was a staple on the side of the plug to hold a strap. The holes are still there. The horn has several what I call distelfink birds carved in different places.There are varying kinds of fish and a mermaid with a rake in her hands. There is a ship with a mast and off to the side is a boat with seven men . A line goes from the boat to a large fish (whale) where the harpoon has stuck him there is another line with a drag on it. I'm not sure if this horn was finished . It has borders around two spaces where a name,date,place or saying could go but was never added. The small boat is hard to see because of some damage next to it. Comments and questios are welcome. Jim
(https://i.ibb.co/Zz9g75kD/whaler-horn-long-view.jpg) (https://ibb.co/0y59vTdb)
(https://i.ibb.co/DD21fhyz/Whaler-horn-ship-harpoon.jpg) (https://ibb.co/svYg9nGb)
(https://i.ibb.co/wrbrm3R4/IMG-2271.jpg) (https://ibb.co/HpMp81Vq)
(https://i.ibb.co/23Kd8hh0/IMG-2269.jpg) (https://ibb.co/b5dXHmmj)
(https://i.ibb.co/FL2Dx7PJ/IMG-2270.jpg) (https://ibb.co/21xknKbP)
(https://i.ibb.co/dwqZwxTR/IMG-3883.jpg) (https://ibb.co/0RS5Rv7x)
(https://i.ibb.co/8gg316C6/IMG-3891.jpg) (https://ibb.co/4RRyhPqP)
(https://i.ibb.co/YF8pnHdq/IMG-3886.jpg) (https://ibb.co/ZpKW4qgk)
(https://i.ibb.co/vvZ62ZPm/IMG-3890.jpg) (https://ibb.co/zHGTKGRb)
-
That really has it all. Thanks for sharing.
-
Your horn is a fascinating New England horn [faceted throat, soft wood plug, sea images] with intriguing artwork. My thoughts come from someone who has "dabbled" in scrimshaw over the years but not deeply. I doubt the carver was ever on a whaling vessel and probably had never seen an actual whale, but he lived close enough to the whaling area that he heard all the stories... and tried to show a whaling "adventure" on the horn. Had he been a whaler, the depictions of the whales would have been significantly different, more like an actual whale [probably flatter nose, larger tail, fewer but larger fins], instead of just oversized fish. The mermaid holding a comb for her hair was a common theme, although this one "almost" looks like it started out as another whale, and the carver suddenly decided he would rather have a mermaid on the horn so rethought the emerging whale.
I may be a bit off, but when I see a strongly New England horn like this, but with a more rounded butt plug and some inland figures mixed in such as the long vine and various birds, I think the horn was made farther inland, away from the coast, where hunting was more important. They used whale oil as most New Englander did, but weren't near to, or actively involved in whaling... just knew it was an important industry that represented New England to most Americans. Perhaps he made the horn for a retired sailor who wanted to remember his glory days whaling on the endless oceans, but the old salt couldn't accurately describe what whales and whaling scenes looked like... but got close and left the carver to work from second-hand knowledge.
Despite not being signed, the carving is too good to be the only horn the carver ever made, which makes me believe it was a semi-professional horn made for someone else.
Shelby Gallien