NAUTICAL BLUDGEON OR COSH C.1850-60

16 ¾” plus the wrist loop. Straight malacca haft supporting an egg-shaped lead head entirely sheathed in stitched seam leather. A hole below pierced through with silver grommets, evidently for a suspension ring which was abandoned in favor of the wrist loop which is secured with a heavy fishing line. Popular in lawless precincts, especially the wharf districts, where they were used to capture seamen for press crews. That process was known as Shanghaiing and its practitioners known as crimps. It was widely practiced, particularly on the West Coast after 1849 where crews abandoned ships for the gold fields.