Scrimshaw Whale Bone Food Chopper
date: label: date made
content: 1800s
label: purchased
content: 1876-11-30
notes: label: Description
content: Simply carved and without any engraving, this food chopper, or mincer, was made in two pieces from a sperm whale’s jawbone. Its blunted, curved blade was used to chop soft foods such as bread dough, fruits, sausage, and animal fats. This example was donated by former Secretary of the Institution Spencer F. Baird (1823–1887) to the Smithsonian, where it became one of the earliest objects in the maritime collections.
topic: label: Subject
content: Fishing
label: related event
content: Expansion and Reform
label: related event
content: Civil War and Reconstruction
label: related event
content: The Development of the Industrial United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Fisheries
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content: Food
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Work
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
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content: Natural Resources
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content: Transportation
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content: Art
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AG.024909
label: catalog number
content: 24909
label: accession number
content: 2009.0157
objectType: label: Object Name
content: scraper, ivory
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: sperm-whale's jaw (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 1/4 in x 5 5/8 in x 1 in; 18.415 cm x 14.2875 cm x 2.54 cm