I finally finished the horn I've been working on for a fellow who is serving in Afghanistan.
While I'm getting better at photographing the horns, the photos often come up short of seeing it in person. These are no exception.
Anyway, here's how it came out:
Around the base of the horn is a band with leaves of the various hardwoods native to southeastern MO. There is 1" cameo window in the band with a rendering of the client's cabin in it.
There is a map of the area including the major rivers, geographical features, settlements, Indian trails and other points of interest which curls around the horn
The base plug is made out of a piece of cypress recovered from a building built in 1909. I guess that makes it over 100 years old. I turned it on the lathe then pinned it with birch toothpicks.
I didn't have any thing else to make a staple out of so I made it out of sterling silver.
There is an engraving of a longhunter on the inside curve.
The tip is paneled and has a fluted collar
the client's name and the year of his birth is engraved in a band just below the engrailing.
I decided to put my touchmark in the center of the compass rose. The compass rose has its cardinal points filled in with an oak leaf motif.
I had a grand time making this horn. Engraving (scrimshaw) is what I purely love to do. Can't wait to start the next one but first I have a couple of small scrimshaw projects to finish.
Thanks for looking.
Any and all comments are cheerfully entertained.
Mark
