Antique Sailor Made Scrimshawed Ruler and Presumed Busk Fragment slip painted pottery very lovely thing-- a gift

very lovely thing-- a gift to a Betty S

At first I thought perhaps a young priest

signed (incised) PAT on the underside

Closed: 14 1/4" x 6 1/4" x 1 7/8"

but there is no stuffing there to come out and it is holding on fine (and a few more stitches to reinforce it would be very easy to do

Antique Sailor Made Scrimshawed Ruler and Presumed Busk Fragment slip painted pottery very lovely thing-- a giftI'll never resist a handmade ruler, all the more so a sailor whaler made one, this one measuring seven inches. I found it along with what I believe is a fragment from a busk a common form for scrimshawing, to bring home to wives and sweethearts for use in corsets. The decoration on this one is minimal, but very fine, perhaps meant for a name to be engraved inside of it. Earlier than later 19th century New England I believe, lovely things. Ruler