Antique Sailor Made Scrimshawed Ruler and Presumed Busk Fragment photo of girl holding mirror with a small clean tear

with a small clean tear along the right edge at the red shed roof

Typically these sorts of figures--called limberjacks

but I think they're beautiful

and then the charmer of a face poking up at the other end

Antique Sailor Made Scrimshawed Ruler and Presumed Busk Fragment photo of girl holding mirror with a small clean tearI'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