PUZZLE BOX MADE FROM WHALE IVORY AND TORTOISE SHELL. The drawer like container is made from a single piece of whale ivory that has deep incised line details on all four sides. The middle pivoting cover also whale ivory with the top cover being a single piece of tortoise shell. The rounded top washer is Walrus ivory. Cleverly designed mechanism that requires 3 steps for access to the storage area.  Nice age patina throughout. Even though the dimensions seem small this would have required quite a large sperm whale tooth to construct it. Illustrated in Flayderman's "Scrimshaw and Scrimshanders" page 154. Interesting that since the mid 1970"s this is the third time I've owned this piece. Its provenance goes something like this: Meylert Armstrong, Norman Flayderman, John Rinaldi, Wayne and Jean Roper, John Rinaldi, Nancy and Larry Dickson, John Rinaldi. These clever scrimshaw gems are very, very rare as I've encountered  just a few over the last 54 years.