Scrimshaw Sperm Whale’s Tooth, Mid-19th Century
notes: label: Description
content: Danger was never far away for the crew of a whale ship out in the middle of the ocean. One side of this large tooth is engraved with a ship in the middle of a storm. The waves are high, and most of the ship’s sails have been taken in. Many of the sails that are left out are tattered and torn, and the rigging lines are slack, indicating strong winds.
label: Description
content: The other side of the tooth has a whale on the surface of the ocean with two harpoons sticking out of its back. It has just knocked a whaleboat out of the water and into the air, breaking it in half. Two hapless crew are about to land in the water to swim or drown. In the distant background sails the mother ship, too far away to rescue the whaleboat’s crew.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
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content: Scrimshaw
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Transportation
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content: Art
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Eleanor and Mabel Van Alstyne American Folk Art Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.65.1130
label: catalog number
content: 65.1130
label: accession number
content: 256396
objectType: label: Object Name
content: tooth, whale
label: Object Name
content: scrimshaw tooth, whale
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: scrimshaw (overall production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: tooth (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 17.2 cm; 6 3/4 in