scrimshaw sculpture
Report a Mistake- Date Made --
- Event --
- Affiliation --
- Artist / Maker / Manufacturer --
- Object Number B-13 a
- Place of Origin --
- Category Communication artifacts
- Sub-category Art
- Department History
- Museum CMH
- Materials Whale tooth
- Person / Institution Associated Historical Figure, Barbeau , Ph.D, Dr. Charles Marius
- Measurements Length 12.8 cm, Width 4.7 cm, Depth 3.1 cm
- Caption Scrimshaw, 1850-1890
- Additional Information While the 19th century may have been a 'golden age' for the Maritimes, the life of a sailor was not only dangerous but often lonely. During the long voyages a seaman might indulge his fancy by engraving designs on the ivory teeth of the sperm whale or on whalebone, a painstaking task that involved much scraping, cutting and polishing. The design was scratched upon the surface of the prepared tooth and completed with ink, paint or even soot.