Scrimshaw Cow Horn, 1808
date: label: date made
content: 1808-05-12
notes: label: Description
content: Some purists say that powder horns cannot be scrimshaw in the strictest definition of the term as whaling ivory, but this little piece blurs the distinction on account of its nautical imagery.
label: Description
content: On the outer surface a brig is engraved, with a small gaff-rigged cutter running before it. The cutter has an unusual, old-fashioned heeltapper hull, with a raised quarterdeck and a low waist. Each vessel has a human-headed sea serpent in the water next to it. Above the brig on the right is a winged horse with feathers or scales on its lower body; its tail and tongue end in arrow points. Above and behind the brig on the left is a crowned two-headed winged creature with a body shaped like a plump manatee; its tail ends in a ragged line. Across from its crown the piece is dated “MAY•12•1808”. A floral vine completes the remarkable freehand carving. A painted wooden base is tacked to the wide end as a bottom; any cap that may have topped the 3-3/4-in. high piece is missing.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Scrimshaw
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content: Transportation
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content: Art
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: 1978.0052.01
label: accession number
content: 1978.0052
label: catalog number
content: 1978.52.1
objectType: label: Object Name
content: scrimshaw
label: Object Name
content: scrimshaw powder horn
label: Object Name
content: scrimshaw tooth, whale
label: Object Type
content: scrimshaws
label: Other Terms
content: scrimshaw; Maritime
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: bone (?) (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 3/4 in x 1 3/4 in x 1 3/4 in; 9.525 cm x 4.445 cm x 4.445 cm