Antique Tin Biscuit Box with Whaling Painting, circa 1920s

Antique Tin Biscuit Box, circa 1920s, with a wonderful folk art hand-painted whaling scene on the lid, depicting two whale boats darting on a whale, the mates at bows ready with lances, a whale ship in the background with sails backed, signed faintly in the lower left… perhaps W. D. Banes?

The artwork is accurate and detailed, strongly indicating a Nantucket origin. The whale boats are in proper scale, with the correct number of crew who are depicted in proper and realistic poses and activity. The sales are backed on the ship (working against each other) to hobble appreciable forward motion while awaiting the lowered boats – an obscure sailing technique that would normally not be seen in any other vessel than a whaler. The whale itself in the foreground is subtly throwing up just the right amount of spray to suggest the artist had been an eyewitness to just such a scene.

This piece was the property of renowned Nantucket photographer Marshall Gardiner ((1884 – 1942) and has descended within his family. The box is in excellent condition, and the artwork also remains in very fine condition with only a few scrapes or chips to the paint; a cleaning would probably bring out brightness and more color.

Measures: 2-1/2 in H x 9-1/2 in W x 7-3/8 in Deep