Watch List notes:

Two deck prisms or deadlights (one round, one rectangular) from late-1800s wrecks in the Florida Keys. Round prism 3-1/2" diameter and 1-3/4" tall, 636 grams; rectangular prism 8-3/4" long and 3" tall, 1455 grams. Before electricity, light below a vessel's deck was provided by candles, oil and kerosene lamps--all dangerous aboard a wooden ship. The deck prism was a clever solution: Laid flush into the deck, the glass prism refracted and dispersed natural light into the space below from a small deck opening without weakening the planks or becoming a fire hazard. The round prism in this lot contains several chips on its flat side with clear "H Lanergan Pat'd Jan 29 1861" on rounded end; the rectangular prism has chips on all corners, scuff marks on flat side, and mostly intact smooth surfaces on triangle side. Use them now as paperweights to impress your friends! One from the "Iron Mast wreck" (schooner wreck off Islamorada, Florida Keys), ex-Carl Fismer, the other from the Art McKee Museum.
($200-300)