Scrimshaw Walrus Tusk, 19th Century
date: label: date made
content: 19th century
notes: label: Description
content: Scrimshaw whales’ teeth and walrus tusks commonly have simple vertical or horizontal compositions carved on their outer surfaces, sometimes stacked with simple framing between adjacent elements. This unusual walrus tusk has a rare freehand spiral composition, beginning at the bottom of the tusk and winding up to the top.
label: Description
content: At the bottom is a large windowed building with a crumbling tower at either end. To the left is a high wall that goes around the tooth to the other side of the building, ending in a large, tall open gate. Behind is a steep hill with more steep hills in the background and a couple astride horses mount the hill. At the back is a woman riding sidesaddle, brandishing a riding crop. In front of her is a man on horseback, driving two pack horses in front of him. In front of them is another pair of men astride horses; the rear one has a pick over his shoulder and the man in front has a pack on his back and a shovel over his shoulder. The group is led by another rider looking up the hill and smiling.
label: Description
content: A large rock separates the climbing group from the next tableau: a small herd of three grazing cows on the far side of a stream or long tree stump. Above this feature in a grassy meadow is a four-sided fort-like structure with a crumbling tower at each corner and tall slits for windows. More grassy hills follow, with another square building with two crumbling towers in the extreme distance. Next, a pair of men wearing baseball-like caps and brandishing riding crops whip their horses up a steep rocky incline towards another high-walled building with crumbling towers. Beyond is another horseback rider, with a cape and long feather streaming off his hat. A pair of dogs lead him up a steep, long grassy hill to another walled-in town with two buildings having crumbling towers at the very top of the tooth.
label: Description
content: Clearly, the tusk is telling some sort of story, but whether the group on horseback is exploring, prospecting, on a hunting trip or some completely unrelated activity is not clear. The repeating fort-like buildings with crumbling towers appear to be Spanish colonial adobe, perhaps placing the tableau in California, Mexico or Central America. However, the woman at the start of the expedition is riding sidesaddle and all the saddles are English rather than Western, further obscuring the location and meaning of the spiral tale.
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: Art
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mr. Frederic A. Delano.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.374503
label: catalog number
content: 374503
label: accession number
content: 136263
objectType: label: Object Name
content: walrus tusk
label: Object Name
content: scrimshaw tusk, walrus
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (base material)
label: Physical Description
content: walrus tusk (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall, without base: 16 in; 40.64 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall, with base: 16 1/4 in; 41.275 cm