This pair of mated horns engraved with iconography of Australia showcases the scrimshaw technique. Forty years ago in an antique shop, the somewhat sad face of the Prince of Wales engraved on a bullock’s horn intrigued NH. Engravings on horn, bone, or ivory, usually from a marine mammal, are classic material for scrimshaw. But in the 18th century creators used scrimshaw as a folk art to decorate cow horns used for gunpowder. The firearms of the day such as flintlock muskets demanded dry powder. NH didn’t know WHICH Prince of Wales this sad face represents. These horns commemorate the visit of the Prince to Australia in 1868.
Traditional Folk Art Scrimshaw
Later in the 19th century traditional folk art scrimshaw memorialized events and personages connected to military life. British seamen brought the tradition to the “colonies.” Bored soldiers awaiting battles carved their horns around campfires, and rubbed the designs with grease and ash. In fact the word scrimshaw is derived from the British slang word “scrimshanker,” an idler shirking his duty.
Prince Alfred, born 1844, the fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, became the Duke of Edinburgh in 1866 until he succeeded his uncle as Duke of Saxe Coburg in the German Empire. In his younger years he served as a great sea admiral, having entered the Royal Navy at age 12, and appointed captain at 22. He began an around the world tour as the commander of the HMS Galatea in 1867. He spent five eventful months as the first royal to visit and tour Australia.
Australia went overboard, literally, to welcome the Prince. Similar to the horns celebrating the noble visage of the Prince, they projected Alfred’s face and figure via magic lanterns onto notable buildings throughout the country. During his visit they named many Australian buildings and institutions after him: The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, Prince Alfred Park in Sydney, Prince Alfred Square in Parramatta, and the Royal Alfred Yacht Club.
Prince of Wales Visit a Disaster
This pair of horns honoring the Prince show the excitement of the people of Australia hosting their first Royal, but the visit was a disaster. Beginning at the State Library of Victoria in 1868, a massive medieval style torch-burning procession set fire to the library. During Alfred’s visit, sectarian conflicts arose between the Catholics and the Protestants of many major Australian cities. At a ceremony honoring William III, a protestant ancestor of the Prince, a riot broke out, shots fired in the crowd, and a young boy killed. At a free banquet planned for 10,000 people, with food, drink, and speeches by the Prince, 70,000 people showed up. A mob scene ensued due to insufficient food and drink. The crowd retaliated by stealing the tables, chairs, crockery, and cutlery. The Prince was whisked away.
In Bendigo a miniature model of the Prince’s ship Galatea manned by teenage boys in uniform tragically burned. A demonstration for the Prince by the Volunteer Fire Brigade went wrong, and the little Galatea ship model went up in flames with the boys. The town hall that built a sister building to honor the Prince burnt to the ground on opening night, fifteen minutes before the ball and dinner planned.
In Sydney the Prince faced an assassination attempt. The bullet ricocheted off the metal of his suspenders and thankfully did not reach any vital organs. He recovered quickly, nursed by Florence Nightengale, and requested clemency for his attacker – who they hung anyway.
A Similar Scrimshaw Horn
I found a similar horn in the Australian War Museum, also a ceremonial scrimshaw horn. This was created in New South Wales 1826-1832 when the Dorsetshire Regiment of Foot was posted to the colony of Australia. Two British soldiers, one of which served in Australia for six years supervising the convicts that labored on the Great North Road engraved that horn. As with NH’s horns, we see emblems of Australia and Britan, such as the English Rose, the Scottish Thistle, the Irish Shamrock, the Australian Banksia, and flannel flower, an emu, snakes, a sailing ship, and a regimental badge.
Alfred was greatly admired for his many visits to far flung colonies of England. He became the first Royal to visit New Zealand 1869, and the first European Prince to visit Japan 1869. These horns are a remarkable memento of the royal zeal former colonies felt for the Monarchy so very far away. I put the value of this pair at $3,500-$4,000.