RARE ANTIQUE 19" WHALE GUN HARPOON Two-flue Tiphead Bomb Lance Hand Forged

Description

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Mendo Picker
For sale is a RARE ANTIQUE 19″ WHALE GUN HARPOON Two-flue tip head “Bomb Lance” Hand Forged . This was an estate buy so I was unable to confirm the history of this harpoon. I bought it in Bodega Bay, Ca. which is on the North Coast of Sonoma County California. (Please do your own research). My research using photo images and research papers that indicate when this style of harpoon first began to appear on the Northern California Coast date this style to the 1850’s.  They are referenced in writings with similar photographs in 1813 in one of the articles.  This style were designed, because unlike whales in other parts of the world, the ones on the Northern Pacific coast were hard to approach by boat so the whale gun was invented. This two flue tip was designed not to release the whale or other large sea mammal that would otherwise sink. They would be cut free from the catch and re used. It is amazing that both flues are still intact.  The workman ship of the blacksmith that made this harpoon is amazing and this is a statement piece for you museum or collection.  I have included a picture of four Bomb lances and a whaling gun below and the history of their design.
Robert Brown of New London, Connecticut designed a shoulder gun in 1850 to fire a gun harpoon, gun lance and a bomb lance, all patented and designed specifically for his gun. The gun itself was not patented. Made entirely of gun metal, this was the heaviest of all the shoulder guns, weighing approximately 34 to 36 lbs. It was a muzzle-loaded gun discharged by a percussion cap. Examples of this gun have one hammer striking two separate caps on two nipples at the same time. This was necessary to ensure firing in a wet environment.
The initial reaction to Brown’s gun and harpoon was enthusiastic. An article in
Scientific American
in April 1850 stated:
NEW WHALE HARPOON – Capt. Robert Brown, of New London, Conn., has invented a most important improvement for shooting and capturing whales. It is well known that some whales of the Pacific cannot be approached with the harpoon in a boat, and at best the harpooning and lancing of whales is a very dangerous and difficult business. The idea of firing the harpoon out of a gun has been often advanced, but Capt. Brown’s harpoon, with the line attached, can be fired as accurately as a musket ball. The invention may be termed, “Whaling made successful and easy by a Yankee Captain.”