Can anyone guess what kind of and what age these scrimshaws are?

[otolith]

How do you discern patina or what type of bone it is? Thanks so much

[mart]

No way to really tell !!  The fish is  a pretty crude carved piece but the hair pins,, you might be able to find something similar !!

[otolith]

Thanks for the response, thus far I've mostly just run across tortoise shell hair forks/pins like them. No bone yet, they are so delicate and thin!

[talesofthesevenseas]

You need to get a hands-on evaluation on these. It is very hard to tell old scrimshaw from reproduction and even from resin in a photo.

Style-wise I can tell you that those type of ladies hair pins were very popular in the 1860's and earlier, so you may have something there. I have never seen one with a whale tale and it might be a very special item. The circular carvings on them also look very typical of sailor's scrimshaw from this period.

Get these to an antiques person in your area who is familiar with scrimshaw for a hands-on appraisal, and then let us know what happens! 

[otolith]

I certainly appreciate your advice. My gut tells me they are real. The fish is maybe a jawbone ?? Anyway I paid less than 20 dollars for the three......
so I feel confident that i'll get my money back. FYI the person that carved the fish made the mouth hollow for a 3-D look. Almost looks like a character off of the comic strip B.C.

[mart]

Good luck and let us know what you find out !!

[KC]

Wise advice given by Talesof!

Nice pieces!

[talesofthesevenseas]

Twenty bucks? I think you're going to do well on this one! Do let us know what the appraiser says.

[KC]

I would also like to know!

Here's a beautiful example of scrimshaw:http://antiquesandthearts.com/Antiques/CoverStory/2010-11-23__15-10-50.html

"This box from the museum's outstanding scrimshaw collection was made between 1840 and 1856 of whale bone and ivory, mahogany, wood and tortoiseshell. It employs hands and stars as decorative motifs. " 

"Made of whale ivory and ebony, this crimper is constructed in three pieces to resemble a sea unicorn. All images courtesy New Bedford Whaling Museum."