Scrimshaw Ivory Whale Stamp
date: label: date made
content: 1800s
notes: label: Description
content: Carved from the teeth of captured sperm whales, whale stamps were used to record the type of whale and number of barrels of oil they yielded.
label: Description
content: The stamps were inked onto the page of whaleship logbooks or sailors’ journals, with an empty space in the whale’s body for writing in the number of barrels. This example in the form of a sperm whale is decorated with steel pin heads and a turned handle.
topic: label: related event
content: Civil War and Reconstruction
label: related event
content: The Development of the Industrial United States
label: related event
content: Expansion and Reform
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
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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: On the Water exhibit
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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
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: From the collection of Dr. and Mrs. Wilbur J. Gould
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1978.0052.06
label: accession number
content: 1978.0052
label: catalog number
content: 1978.52.6
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Scrimshaw
label: Object Name
content: scrimshaw whale stamp
label: Object Type
content: scrimshaws
label: Other Terms
content: Scrimshaw; Maritime
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: sperm whale tooth (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 1/8 in x 1 3/4 in x 3/4 in; 2.8575 cm x 4.445 cm x 1.905 cm