Scrimshaw Sperm Whale Tooth, 19th-20th Century
date: label: date made
content: 19th-20th century
notes: label: Description
content: The obverse of this large sperm whale tooth is carved with the image of a strange warship of unknown type, as though the scrimshaw artist had never seen a real vessel in the water but was perhaps using an illustration for inspiration.
label: Description
content: The vessel sits deep in the water, but the top of the rudder is showing. Nine gunports adorn the starboard (right) side of the vessel, but the ports are compressed into horizontal slits close to the waterline, where they would have flooded in even moderate seas. The sails are all rigged but have deep cutouts along the bottom edges, and all the rigging lines are slack. Each of the three masts has a fighting top, and each mast is capped with a long, fluttering pennant reminiscent of a medieval jousting tournament. The ship is framed with a rope motif and beneath is the name "Eliza 1863" in an ornate beribboned panel.
label: Description
content: The reverse is decorated more conventionally, with an eagle with spread wings atop a shield containing stars and stripes. A ribbon below proclaims "United States of America" and a pennant above the eagle says "Mighty Eagle". Around the top of the tooth is written "NEW LONDON".
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: Work
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content: Natural Resources
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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: 1978.0052.14
label: accession number
content: 1978.0052
label: catalog number
content: 1978.52.14
objectType: label: Object Name
content: scrimshaw
label: Object Name
content: scrimshaw tooth, whale
label: Object Type
content: scrimshaws
label: Other Terms
content: scrimshaw; Maritime
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: whale tooth (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 6 3/4 in x 2 3/4 in x 2 1/4 in; 17.145 cm x 6.985 cm x 5.715 cm