STONE SCULPTURE OF A YOUNG WOMAN (AMERICAN, MID

STONE SCULPTURE OF A YOUNG WOMAN (AMERICAN, MID 19TH CENTURY).
Attributed to Providence, Rhode Island, unsigned. A fine carved sculpture depicting a young woman holding a book and a ship caulker's mallet. Minor surface wear. 42"h., resting on a 2 1/2" stone pedestal.

During the era of wooden shipbuilding, the ship caulker used a long, cylindrical mallet to work oakum, or loose hemp fibers (often from old ropes), into the cracks between the planks on the ship's hull. The caulker then used pitch to render the oakum-stuffed seams watertight.

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