Whale blubber buckets?

[capn]

Hi guys.
I heading to an auction later and these are in the auction. They are listed as "Rare ships whale blubber pails".
This auction has been known to mis-label things and I have never seen these before but they are intriguing to me.

Does anyone know if that is indeed what these are?

Thanks!!

[mariok54]

Hi,

I'll start off by saying I have absolutely no idea. But what I will ask is how big are they? Think of a typical whale, think of how much blubber (poor thing) that it must have, and ask yourself would these do the job? I imagine that they stored whale blubber in much larger containers, although these may have been used to convey small amounts.
As I said, I have no idea. Any budding Captain Ahabs out there?

Just found this and it talks about storing it in barrels, which to me would make more sense, but it still may have been transported in smaller containers?

http://www.marinebio.net/marinescience/06future/wham.htm

[capn]

Hi,

I'll start off by saying I have absolutely no idea. But what I will ask is how big are they? Think of a typical whale, think of how much blubber (poor thing) that it must have, and ask yourself would these do the job? I imagine that they stored whale blubber in much larger containers, although these may have been used to convey small amounts.
As I said, I have no idea. Any budding Captain Ahabs out there?

Just found this and it talks about storing it in barrels, which to me would make more sense, but it still may have been transported in smaller containers?

http://www.marinebio.net/marinescience/06future/wham.htm

Honestly I don't know. I haven't gone to preview them yet.
But ya, I'm guessing these obviously weren't meant for storing the blubber but more transporting (as one sailor couldn't really carry a barrel full)
But this is all assuming these are actually for whale blubber...which could be completely wrong! I've just never seen brass containers like this before

[mariok54]

Take a good look at the base, see how the thing has been made, and that will give you some indication as to whether it is antique (but not a guarantee). If it's a good thick guage copper, and you like them, and they are going cheap .... then maybe give your  number a little  wave in the direction of the auctioneer.

[mariok54]

Sorry, I was writing as you were posting. Are they brass then and not copper?

[capn]

Sorry, I was writing as you were posting. Are they brass then and not copper?

All I know is that photo and the title the auction house gave them 
They looked brass to me...I dunno

[Rauville]

I've always called those "Milk Pails / Buckets".

There's an "as found" one pictured on the following page for $89.
http://www.laurelleaffarm.com/pages/farm/vintage-dairy-milk-cans.htm#.UiIjrPco73h

Here's another one from eBay a couple of years ago...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-ANTIQUE-LARGE-BRASS-MILK-BUCKET-5-GAL-CONE-SHAPED-/350079502855

[mariok54]

I've always called those "Milk Pails / Buckets".

There's an "as found" one pictured on the following page for $89.
http://www.laurelleaffarm.com/pages/farm/vintage-dairy-milk-cans.htm#.UiIjrPco73h

Well done Rauville. That certainly looks like it ... and it is brass and not copper ... I need to get my eyes tested or a better screen!

As Capn said, they seem to be being a little imaginative with their decsriptions

[mart]

Milk makes much more sense since the smaller top would prevent much splashing out !!  Depending of course on who was carrying it !!

[capn]

Thanks guys!
They were cool but I decided to not pull the trigger.
And yep, milk makes a lot more sense than whale blubber 

[greenacres]

Interesting, I just read the true story of "Moby Dick". It took place in Nantucket.  Whales have large quantities of fat and oil in the tops of their heads. They would use buckets to remove the fat and oil. There was so much they would slip and slide all over the decks of the ship.

[mart]

Probably did but something tells me they would have used a larger bucket and wider top since the blubber was cut in large chunks !! They surely would have been cussing trying to stuff them into those little openings !!  Would have taken too much time to cut them smaller and time was something they didn`t have much of or the whale would start to rot !!

[greenacres]

With a wider opening on top.

[mart]

Can you imagine how long it would take to carry almost an entire whale below deck with those buckets ?? That would be a very inefficient system !!

[greenacres]

If I can paste this! http://www.sylviaantiques.com/sylviaantiquesnantucketantiques.html
This is a whale bucket.