Sailing to auction this fall is a 7-inch-long whale’s tooth decorated by private James Bute of the Royal Marines while aboard the ship from which Charles Darwin surveyed the Galapagos Islands in 1835. Darwin made significant scientific observations from the H.M.S Beagle which formed the basis of his seminal work, “The Origin of Species.” The hand-engraved ivory depicts the three-masted sloop H.M.S. Beagle slicing through rough waters against a mountain backdrop. With a high estimate of 50,000 pounds, the carved tooth will be auctioned by Bonhams in London on Sept. 16. Known as scrimshaw, ...
Read Post
