482 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



"Your Majesty is now seated upon a throne which in 

 material and form rivals that of King Solomon and the like 

 of which cannot be seen in any other realm." 



JAGGING WHEELS* 



The Old Dartmouth Historical Society in New Bedford, 

 Mass., has in its Museum Section some 150 examples of 

 "jagging wheels" fashioned out of whale teeth or walrus 

 tusks by whalers on the homeward trip after their catch had 

 been made. These wheels are used in cutting and indenting 

 pastry. The objects testify to a wonderful degree of skill 

 and taste on the part of these amateur carvers, whose work 

 shows in many cases an almost mechanical exactness one 

 would scarcely expect in view of the rude tools employed and 

 the often disturbing conditions of the carvers' floating work- 

 shop. 



The objects on view in the Society's rooms were made in 

 the period between 1800 and 1860, and it is believed that no 

 work of this kind has been done for twenty years or more. 

 The handles of the j aggers show an astonishing variety of 

 decorative forms, many of the ornamental designs being in 

 openwork. One of these offers a trefoil, a diamond, and a 

 circle in openwork, while at the end is a five-pointed star. 

 The solid work, however, is the most artistic. In several 

 cases graceful snake forms have been carved ; in one of these 

 the convolutions are partly turned about the halberd-like 

 staff of the handle, the upper part of the snake's body 

 describing four graceful curves above. Other forms are: a 

 hand as terminal; a strangely conceived unicorn; a fantastic 

 creature, half elephant, half dog; a snake head with widely 

 distended jaws, displaying the forked tongue and deadly 

 fangs. The excellent photograph, for which the writer is 



*Commimicated by Mr. Frank Wood, Curator of the Museum Section, who has been 

 collecting these objects for the past twelve years. 



