Amazing Early 1900s Folk Art Whaling Diorama - Ship in a Bottle

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Amazing Early 1900s Folk Art Whaling Diorama - Ship in a Bottle:
$1250.00

Please be aware that any ofmy sales which have not sold will be ended by 10:00 p.m. (CDT), Sunday,August 23, 2015.

This is a wonderfully rare diorama scene of the early American whalingtrade. It is estimated that the bottle was built in the early 1900’s. This folkart scene in a bottle contains a whaling ship in icy waters with icebergs andglaciers. The ship has two masts and there is an American Flag flying from atopof the mizzenmast. The rigging is nicely done with standing and runningrigging. The masts have both shrouds and ratlines. The ships cabin is verylarge and is painted white with black trim and portholes. A large red and whitesmokestack is on top of the cabin with white smoke billowing out. There arewhaling boats hanging from davits; one on each side of the cabin.

In the bow of the ship, a sailor is manning a harpoon gun. He has justfired the harpoon and it is imbedded in the back of a whale with the harpoonrope leading from the gun to the whale. Another sailor is beginning to climbthe shrouds on the mainmast. A third sailor is pulling on the rigging lines inthe stern of the ship. Alongside the ship in the water are two captured whales.They are shown bleeding from the harpoons and the water and ice are beginningto turn red from their blood. Both whales are blowing water from their blowholes. Near the whales is a whaling boat with twosailors rowing toward the rear whale.

On the backside of the bottle are two large raised glaciers; one towardthe front of the bottle and one in the bottom area. On the glacier at the neckside of the bottle are two sailors with their whaling boat pulled up on the ice.

On the glacier in the bottom area of the bottle are two sailors tryingto kill or ward off a polar bear. Both sailors have long poles in their handsand they are trying to both spear and beat a large polar bear. The men and thepolar bear are wonderfully carved in a very folksy way. All of the sailors are wearingdark blue uniforms. The size of the sailors is exaggerated for the scene butthis just draws interest and charm to the diorama.

The bottle is sealed with a cork wrapped in aluminum foil and extendingfrom the foil inside the bottle is a long piece of paper with the German word\"Walfischjagd\" written on it - the English translation is \"WhaleHunt.\" The bottle is a Berlin -George Broche bottle and measures 11 ¾ inches by 4 inches. It rests on a verynice custom wooden stand not original to the bottle. Inside the bottle is a little residue typicalof bottles this age (see pictures).

This is a rare scene depicting early American Whaling history.

While we pack well to protect the item, it is impossible to secure itemsthat are inside the bottle, so at our expense we will provide insurance for thebuyer. The cost of shipping is $16.00for buyers in the U.S. Internationalbuyers - please inquire as to shipping cost. We require payment by PayPal,within 5 days of the sale\'s end. We ask that the buyer confirm by e-mailwithin 3 days. We try to describe our pieces very accurately and buyerunderstands that the item is being sold \"As Is\" so please ask questionsbefore offerding.