Combination footed sewing and writing box of black lacquer. Hinged top opens to reveal an inset tray, with gold paint around top edges. Tray has 15 compartments for sewing items. Desk opens to a scarlet velvet writing surface.
Set of 34 ivory Chinese jackstraws used as a toy by Kate Dow when a young girl. Probably brought back from China by her mother's brother, Capt. Oscar Eaton.
The Chinese may well have invented the compass; it was in use in the 12th-13th centuries there. This one is not a navigation compass but was used in feng sui. It is a dry card type perhaps modeled on the European types introduced into China in the 16th century.
Chinese cabinet purchased in Hong Kong in the 1890s by Capt. Eben Curtis of Searsport, while master of the ship Tillie E. Starbuck of New York. The Tillie E. Starbuck was one of America's first iron sailing vessels, built by the John Roach yard in Chester, Pennsylvania in 1883. Curtis became her master in 1891.
Broad axe used in Searsport shipyards for forty years by Peter Ward of Searsport. Ward worked for shipwright John Carver from 1850 until Carver's yard was closed. Broad axes were used in shipbuilding and framing timber frame buildings to hew large timbers square and otherwise remove large amounts of wood.
Billet head carved by Thomas Seavey of Bangor, Maine. Dimensions: 24"x18"x21" including mounting board. Carved but never used on a vessel, something readily seen by the sharpness of the carving and lack of paint buildup.
Billet heads were located under a vessel's bowsprit like figureheads, but being simpler and much less expensive would have been found on smaller vessels like coastal schooners and fishing vessels.
