New This Week:

2.97  MINIATURE CLIPPER SHIP.  Exceptional 19th century folk are model of an American clipper ship under full sail.  This charming depiction features a 3-masted solid wooden hull square rigger plying a realist green putty sea with all sails set.  The raised foc`sle and poop decks are realistically portrayed.  The main deck has a large deck house and 2 hatches.  The American ensign flies from the spanker and a long flowing pennant flies from the main.  The model is mounted on its carved wooden stand with ball feet.  Telling of its age, the model case in comprised of 5 panels of old wavy glass.  The overall presentation is 8 ½ inches long, by 2 ¾ inches wide and 5 ¾ inches high.  Outstanding original condition throughout.  A very detailed, realistic model for such a diminutive size.  969

From a noted world-class collection of maritime antiques and scrimshaw in Monterey, California.  Provenance will be provided to the buyer.

3.65   PARALLEL RULES.   Classic pair of very early 19th century (most likely 18th century) ship’s navigator’s chart rules.  This traditional navigating device consists of 2 limbs of rich ebony wood connected by 2 sculpted brass parallel stays.  Two small brass nibs are inserted into the limns to assist in the setting and drafting of this ship/’s course.  12 inches long.  Perfect,  original, functional condition.  A $150 value.  NOW!  29

This is a ridiculously cheap offering.  Lunch at McDonald’s is 20 bucks!  This is an historic relic over 200 years old!  Not available at WalMart.

7.35  REFERENCE BOOKS.  David Waters, “The Art of Navigation” in 3 Volumes.  2nd edition with revisions 1978, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England.  500 pages exclusive of Appendices and Index (196 pages).  Illustrated in black and white with photos, line drawings and diagrams.  Bound in original paper sleeve.  This is the most comprehensive treatise yet written on the topic of English navigation in Elizabethan and Stuart times.  Very scholarly-written, replete with detailed historical accounts of the periods.  The three volumes total 2 ½ inches thick!  MINT, as printed condition.  29

7.14  REFERENCE BOOK.  Wolfgang Rudolph, “Sailor Souvenirs, Stoneware, Faiences and Porcelain of three Centuries.”  1985, Edition Leipzig, West Germany.  Hard cloth cover, 147 pages, fully illustrated in color and black and white, deluxe dust jacket with protective cover.  This is a well-written book, focused on the unique topic of maritime-related porcelain , pottery and dinnerware.  Topic include “Mariners and Ceramics, Shipmaster Porcelain from the Far East, Ship Tiles, Table Services of Captains’ Wives, Lusterware and Staffordshire, Tea porcelain and Satsuma.”  The topics being very specific, this book thoroughly covers this area of Maritime antique collectibles.  Excellent, near perfect original condition.  29

13.13  RADIO ROOM CLOCK.   World War II, likely earlier, merchant ship’s Marconi clock of English manufacture.  The all brass clock with lever escapement has a white enameled dial with bold Roman numerals and a minute chapter swept by blackened steel spade hands.  It has a large red sweep second hand which ticks every 1/5th second.  The combined second AND minute chapter ring indicates single minutes and seconds marked by 5’s (5 - 60).  The Fast/Slow lever adjustment is within the “XII.”  Below it has a radio operator-applied marker indicating “GMT” (Greenwich Mean Time).  Unique to this clock, adding to its value and appeal, is the colorful red sector on the dial which indicates the times in which the radio operator should listen for distress calls in Morse Code.  The very finest quality movement is all brass with a 7 jewel lever escapement.  The backplate is engraved “SMITHS ASTRAL (Seven) Jewels, Made In England By Smiths English Clocks LTD, London 156.”  The handsome 6 inch dial is mounted in its original solid brass clock case with hinged bezel on the right opening on the left with a press fit.  The heavy cast brass bezel has a silvered reflector ring protected by a thick beveled glass crystal.  For ease of opening a small contoured lever is provided on the left.  This classic maritime clock case has a mounting flange with 4 screws and measures 8 inches in diameter.  The case is 4 inches deep.  This clock has just been professionally serviced by a certified watchmaker and is in tip top running condition.  Complete with period brass winding key.  549

The low serial number of this clock, 156, indicates it was made in the 1930’s.

Maritime communication using Morse code gave way to oral radio transmission after World War I.   Clocks of this type were soon rendered obsolete.  But now, years later, many modern clock companies are capitalizing on marketing reproductions of this colorful nostalgia.  This clock is original, from the period!

Following the RMS TITANIC disaster in 1912 rules regarding international communication at sea were imposed.  Up to that time communication by Marconi wireless using Morse Code was the standard.  Most ships did not maintain continuous radio operations.  In the case of the TITANIC, many of her distress calls “fell on deaf ears.”  Thereafter, it was a requirement that ships provide 24 hour radio communication.  What’s more radio operators were required to listen (and not transmit)  at the designated times of 3 minutes past the quarter hour and 3 minutes into the fourth  quarter of the hour.  Those times are indicated in red on the dial of this clock.

9.31  PRECISION SCALE WEIGHTS.  Full set of balancing scale weightsused for determining the exact weight of precious substances such as gold, diamonds and medicine.  This pristine set contains 8 identified brass weights marked from one through 50 grams, with duplicate 2 and 10 gram weights.  Then there is a cut black glass tray which contains thin metal strips ranging from 1 milligram up to 500 milligrams.  The set is complete with its original brass tweezers.   The total contents are neatly mounted in the substantial mahogany box with dark blue felt liner and brass hook closure.  The set is signed by the maker as stamped into the case “F. HOPKIN & SON, JERSEY CITY, NJ.”   5 1/8 inches long by 3 inches wide and 1 ½ inches thick.  It is amazing that this set has remained entirely intact in such good condition for over 100 years!  249

AUTHENTIC LIGHTHOUSE. This is the ultimate! Here is an exceptional opportunity to own a very historic relic of America’s rich maritime heritage embodied in the original lamp room from the famous Ballast Point Lighthouse, which served its sentinel duties in the channel of San Diego Bay from 1890 until 1960. This incredibly well-preserved piece of history was built according to specifications laid out by the U.S. Lighthouse Service in 1885. A copy of the original specifications are included as are much printed references and photographs. Erected in 1890, the 5th Order lighthouse was a significant aid to navigation in conjunction with the Point Loma Lighthouse (1850) poised at the entrance to San Diego Bay. Ballast Point Light was situated further inside the massive bay on a point which jutted into the seaway which posed a hazard to shipping. 13 feet 10 inches high with a maximum width of 8 feet 8 inches. Weight approximately 5 tons. It will require a crane and a flat bed truck for transport. 129 years old! Price Request

HISTORY

On October 2, 1888, recognizing the need for a harbor light in the increasingly congested channel of San Diego Bay, Congress authorized $25,000 for the construction of a lighthouse to be built on Ballast Point. Fashioned in the late Victorian style, the entire structure took 3 months to build beginning in March 1890. The light was first lit on August 1st. It was a sister of the lights at San Luis Obispo and Table Bluff, south of Humboldt Bay. All were wood framed structures with attached living quarters. The ironwork for the lantern was forged in San Francisco and carried south to San Diego by ship. The French firm of Sautter, Lemmonier, & Cie. manufactured the Freznel lens for the Ballast Point Light in 1886. The fixed 5th Order lens was visible for a distance of at least 11 miles.

When California was still part of Mexico the peninsula jutting into San Diego Bay was known as Punta del los Guijarros or “Pebble Point.” For centuries cobblestones washed down by the San Diego River had been deposited on the point. When California gained statehood in 1850 the point was renamed Middle Ground Shoal. As time went on and merchant traffic in the harbor increased, many sailing ships found it convenient to load or discharge the stones as ballast. The practice continued and eventually the name “Ballast Point” stuck.

Accompanying the Ballast Point lighthouse was a huge 2,000 pound fog bell in a wooden tower. In 1928 it was supplanted by a single tone electric diaphone horn.

The first keeper of the light was John M. Nilsson, assigned duty on July 15, 1890. The second was Henry Hall, who took the job on December 1, 1892. Perhaps the most famous keeper was Irish born David R. Splaine, a Civil War veteran and veteran lighthouse keeper, who assumed the post in 1894, having served at Point Conception, the Farallons and San Diego’s own Point Loma light from 1886-1889.

In 1913 the original old kerosene lamp was replaced with an acetylene burner. Acetylene gave way to electricity in 1928. In 1938 a filter was fitted inside the 5th Order Freznel lens giving the light a distinctive green hue for recognition. One of the last keepers of the light was Radford Franke who recalled receiving the order to “douse the light” upon the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

By early 1960 the light was deemed to be of no further service, so in June of that year the lantern room was removed to a salvage yard. The wooden tower and its brick and mortar foundation remained a couple of years later until they too were declared structurally unsafe and demolished. The bell tower continued to survive, mounted with a 375 mm high intensity lamp on its roof. However the value of maintaining any light on Ballast Point diminished with the installation of harbor entrance range lights. In the late 1960’s the bell and its tower were dismantled. The tower found its way to a private residence in Lakeside, California. The bell had a more circuitous later life. It was purchased from a San Diego area junk yard in 1969 for its scrap value of 5 cents per pound! The one ton bell remained on local private property until 1991, when it was put on loan to the San Diego Maritime Museum. In 1999 the bell was transported to the son of the original buyer, living in Colorado. Then in 2002, the bell finally found its way to the home of the owner’s granddaughter living in Vermont, where it rests to this day.

The story of the lantern’s later life is even more fascinating. The nation was just recovering from the Cuban Missile Crisis between JFK and Khrushchev, when in 1964 the Cuban government cut off the fresh water supply to the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay. By that time, an experimental desalinization plant had been in operation at Point Loma for 2 years. The Navy hastily ordered it to be disassembled and shipped through the Panama Canal to Cuba. A gentleman working as a crane operator during the process noted the shabby lantern room in a trash heap nearby. He inquired as to the fate of the relic and was told it was salvage. Asking if he could purchase it, the yard foreman told him he could “have it” if he would haul it away. With that, for the next 34 years the lantern room served as a gazebo in the backyard of the man’s residence in Bonita, California. It was purchased by the present owners in 1998, fully refurbished, and then placed on public display ever since. Now it is time for it to find its next new home. According to the crane operator who delivered the lamp room it weighs approximately 5 tons. It will require a crane and a flat bed truck for removal.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

F. Ross Holland, “The Old Point Loma Lighthouse,” 1978, Cabrillo Historical Association, San Diego, California

Jim Gibbs, “The Twilight of Lighthouses,” 1996, Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, PA.

Kin Fahlen and Karen Scanlon, “Lighthouse of San Diego,” 2008, Arcadia Publishing, San Francisco

Kraig Anderson, “Forgotten Ballast Point “Lighthouse” Seeks New Home,” article in “Lighthouse Digest,” East Machias, Maine, September – October 2011, Vol. XX, no. 5 pages 34 – 37.

“Mains’l Haul,” a periodic publication of the San Diego Maritime Association, Summer 1990, Vol. XXVI, No. 4, pp. 11-12.