Incollect Magazine - Issue 2

2022 Incollect Magazine 85 This tooth portrays the female pirate Alwilda wearing a striking checkered skirt, while holding a sword above her head, with a dagger and pistol tucked into her sash. According to legend, Alwilda was the daughter of a Scandinavian king. Her overprotective father locked his beautiful young daughter in a tower surrounded by snakes, to keep men away from her. The Prince of Denmark succeeded in defeating the snakes, and the king agreed to arrange a marriage. However, Alwilda had no intention of complying. Helped by her mother, Alwilda fled, and joined a group of female sailor friends who dressed like men. Together they commandeered a ship, and elected Alwilda their captain. Pursuing Alwilda, the prince boarded her vessel, and having killed most of her crew, killed the captain too, not recognizing Alwilda dressed as a man. Yarn swifts are often regarded as the pinnacle of the scrimshaw makers’ art, since they required intricate engineering and painstaking cutting, polishing, and assembly of dozens of interrelated parts. Swifts were used to convert skeins of yarn into balls, so that the yarn would not get tangled while knitting. Whalemen who built swifts at sea are known to have spent two to three years creating them, making them the most precious of scrimshaw gifts, usually designed for a sweetheart or wife. The swift shown here is a superb example of design, beauty, and execution. It was created by Captain Henry Daggett (1811-1873). Though he sailed on many whaling voyages, his legacy lies in the scrimshaw swifts he made during his seafaring years. Daggett made this swift for Caroline Mayhew (1800-1880) on the event of her marriage to Capt. William Mayhew, Jr. (1798-1855), Daggett’s fellow whaling master and Martha’s Vineyard neighbor. The couple is represented on the front of the wooden storage box, which bears a whale ivory heart engraved with a man and woman in formal dress, representing the bride and groom. 4 Captain Henry Daggett, Yarn swift with storage box, 1834. Whalebone, silver, wood, 23½ inches high. Private collection. Polychrome Whale’s Tooth Depicting Alwilda, the Female Pirate, mid-19th century. Whale tooth, pigment. L. 6 ½ in. Private collection. Image courtesy Eldred’s Auction Gallery.