Scrimshaw Sperm Whale Tooth, 19th or 20th Century
date: label: date made
content: 19th - 20th century
notes: label: Description
content: An oval ribbon marked "U.S.S. PENSACOLA AND CONFEDERATE MANASSAS" on top and "NEW ORLEANS —APRIL 24, 1862" frames an event from the Civil War Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip on the lower Mississippi River south of New Orleans. In the skirmish, the earliest Confederate ironclad warship Manassas tried to ram the propeller steamship USS Pensacola, but the larger steamship was able to turn and rake the ironclad with the broadside depicted here. Manassas survived the barrage, taking more hits from a Union line or warships, and ramming a couple as it tried to escape. It finally ran aground, was set on fire and exploded, sinking immediately. This battle led to the Confederate loss of New Orleans a few days later, which hastened the end of the Civil War.
label: Description
content: The reverse of the tooth is etched with a scene of two seamen in a naval gun turret behind a pair of Dahlgren guns: big, heavy cast iron naval cannon developed during the Civil War. The source of this image is an 1862 engraving of the USS Passaic in the news magazine Harper's Weekly, but Pensacola also had Dahlgrens. In cursive below is engraved "The Dahlgren Guns".
label: Description
content: Although the unidentified artist of this tooth copied his subjects from contemporary images, he drew freehand instead of using the pinprick method of scrimshaw, indicating a high level of skill.
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
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: 1978.0052.38
label: accession number
content: 1978.0052
label: catalog number
content: 1978.52.38
objectType: label: Object Name
content: scrimshaw
label: Object Name
content: scrimshaw tooth
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: 4 in x 1 5/8 in x 1 1/4 in; 10.16 cm x 4.1275 cm x 3.175 cm