Scrimshaw Walrus Tusk, mid-20th Century
date: label: date made
content: ca 1900
notes: label: Description
content: This intricately carved walrus tusk was carved for the tourist trade. It is not traditional scrimshaw, in that it is not whale ivory carved aboard a whaleship in the 19th century. However, it is engraved marine ivory depicting marine hunting activity and marine mammals, so it is included among the arts associated with scrimshaw.
label: Description
content: It contains multiple scenes of Lapland daily activities, surrounding a western-style cribbage board. On the obverse, two women are riding in a wooden sleigh drawn by a single reindeer or caribou, with another reindeer tethered behind on a rope. In the center is a deeply carved and shaded scrollwork motif frames a cribbage board, in the center of which a pair of polar bears flank a dead walrus. To the right are two sparring reindeer with their antlers entangled. The reverse has a scene of two hunters dragging dead seals along the ice; in front of them is a rider on a dogsled drawn by five dogs. The quality, scale and lithographic quality of the carving clearly indicate the hand of a professional scrimshaw artist working for the tourist trade.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Alaska
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Naval
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Scrimshaw
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AF.59396-N
label: catalog number
content: 59396-N
label: accession number
content: 260075
objectType: label: Object Name
content: game
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: bone (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: engraved (overall production method/technique)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 22 in x 3 in; 55.88 cm x 7.62 cm