Finely woven oval ditty box in the traditional Nantucket manner, with a stylised fish whittled from wood as the handle to the lid. Ditty boxes were used by seamen to keep their sewing and sundry toiletry items and could be made from whalebone, wood and Nantucket cane. 
In surprisingly good condition with only a few loose canes.
Nineteenth century.
175 mm x 130 mm. (7 x 5 inches).
Rare.