Susan Tooth Brings $139,200

This Napoleonic prisoner-of-war bone ship model, circa 1810, was an elaborate and fine model of a 78-gun ship-of-the-line with a planked and pinned hull with baleen gunwales and bone gun carriages and a finely carved polychrome stern. The model measures 10" high x 11" long, and the glass dome display case, 15" high x 16" long x 7½" wide. It was consigned by antiques dealer Joseph Vallejo, director and owner of Vallejo Gallery in California. After a robust round of bidding, the ship model sold for $22,040.

The top lot of the Osona sale was this Frederick Myrick scrimshawed Susan tooth dated February 8, 1829. With "The ship Susan of Nantucket" within a banner over a whale ship, three longboats, and three whales and with a spread-winged eagle and "E Pluribus Unum" on a shield, the 6¼" long tooth was rare and desirable. The tip of the tooth was engraved with "Union" and "Hope," and along the base was "Death to the living/ long life to the killers/ Success to sailor's wives & greasy luck to whalers." From the Sara Jo and Art Kobacker collection, it opened with a $90,000 phone bid and sold for $139,200.

"This is the pride of our sale," said Rafael Osona when he put this striking oil on canvas by Richard Hayley Lever (1876-1958) up for sale. Nantucket from the Moors was an "important view of the Nantucket moors and skyline." Unsigned, the 24" x 36" painting was ex-Walter Beinecke collection. Osona sold it in 1990 to the consignor. Bidding opened at $50,000 and quickly escalated to $72,500.

This large (7" tall x 4½" wide x 2½" deep) circa 1809 polychromed French prisoner-of-war bone spinning jenny was ornate and colorful and had nine figures—two dogs on two parquetry platforms, a spinner, a violinist, and five dancing figures. According to the catalog, it was made at the Norman Cross Depot. It went to a bidder on the phone at $34,800.

An exquisite nest of eight Nantucket round swing-handle baskets, ranging in size from 3½" high x 5" diameter to 8" high x 13½" diameter, was attributed to Andrew Jackson Sandsbury (1830-1902), who wove baskets in his free time while on the Nantucket New South Shoal lightship from 1872 to 1892. Bidding opened at $20,000, and the set sold for $40,600.

Demetre Chiparus (Rumanian/ French, 1886-1947) created this bronze and ivory sculpture, Nimble Dancer, in 1925. In gilt and cold-painted bronze, the Art Deco figure was set on an onyx base with marble inlay. Signed "D.H. Chiparus" and measuring 18½" high, it opened with a $12,000 phone bid and with three phones competing sold for $25,200.

This circa 1850 English woollie was sailor-made, according to the catalog. It is a portrait of a ship-of-the-line at anchor flying the royal standard, indicating that Queen Victoria was aboard, with smaller boats alongside and signal flags. The 23" x 34½" woollie sold for $10,440.

A French prisoner-of-war bone ship model, dating from around 1800, 28" high x 36" long, opened with a $40,000 phone bid and sold at $52,200 to the phone. The 116-retractable-gun ship had an elaborate carved stern and a Roman soldier figurehead. From the collection of Sara Jo and Arthur Kobacker and the Clive Gomshall-Lloyd collection, it was illustrated in The Lloyd Collection of Napoleonic Prisoner-of-War Artifacts by John Rinaldi (1986).

A buyer at the sale won the J. Easton (1807-1903) circa 1840 Nantucket coin silver soup ladle at $6960. The 13" long ladle was stamped on the reverse "J Easton 2nd, Nantucket, Pure Coin" and was engraved "Malvina F Marshall, Feb. 18, 1851."

October, Nantucket by Emma H. Van Pelt, circa 1890, a 9¾" x 11¾" fall view of Nantucket with the town in the distance, in vivid reds, browns, greens, and grays, signed on the lower left and titled on the lower right, attracted lots of attention and sold to a buyer at the sale for $5800.

This elaborate circa 1840 sailor-made knife box (illustrated with scrimshawed tools that were sold separately) was stunning. It had 28 pieces of whale ivory inlay and 343 pieces of light and dark hardwood inlay. The front and back had inlaid ivory knives and forks with ebony handles, and the center had hearts and the initials "E.C." in red sealing wax. Ex-Norman Flayderman—it's illustrated in his book Scrimshaw and Scrimshanders—and William Boylhart, it was consigned by California antiques dealer and collector Joe Vallejo. It opened with a strong $5000 bid, but with eager bidders from the floor and on the phones, it sold for $26,680.