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by Kary Pardy

Saving Scrimshaw: How it’s Made and How to Take Care of It

f you’re a nautical fanatic, a coast dweller,
or a fan of early American arts, you
The term scrimshaw encompasses more than just
Iprobably know and appreciate scrimshaw. engraved teeth, and includes carved items as well,
But what is it really, and how do you know such as this decorative 19th century pie crimper.
you’re looking at the real deal? If you find it,
photo: New Bedford Whaling Museum
how do you keep it shipshape for years to
come? We’re here to help.
Scrimshaw is a broad term that covers art
carved or engraved into the teeth, bones, or
other hard parts of ocean creatures. Native
tribes used it for ritualistic practices and artists
have pushed the boundaries of the term in the
modern age, but we will use it more narrowly
for the purposes of this article to describe the
bone/ivory based seacrafts of sailors, and
particularly, whalers.

Making Scrimshaw sailing needles or knives, and one’s skill and
A common theory is that the term the rocking and rolling of the ship produced a
scrimshaw originated to describe men on variety of different quality images. That said,
whaling ships using whatever they had on whalemen were skilled tradesmen, and the
hand in ready supply (whale parts) to make dexterity needed in their day jobs transferred
tools for the ship. It later broadened to refer over to their crafts to create some beautiful
to crafts sailors made in their free time for pieces. Sailors carved what they knew and
fun or to bring as trinkets to those back what would please those at home. You’ll see
home. From the carved plaques of Nantucket lots of ships, sea imagery, shoreline imagery,
baskets to pins, women’s corset busks, hinges, loved ones, and nautical symbols.
latches, pie crimpers, handles for tools or To really make these carvings pop,
canes, or woodwork with inlays, scrimshaw scrimshanders periodically filled their work in
pops up on the market in many forms, but with black and sometimes colored pigments
none is so famous as the iconic carved sperm and used what they had on hand: lampblack
whale tooth. (a suspension of carbon in oil in oil lamps of
Scrimshaw teeth were so prevalent because the whaling tryworks), soot, gunpowder, and
they presented an ideal medium. They were oil, or commercially-produced ink. Colored
readily available if the hunt had gone well and pigments also came from purchased ink, or
were not used for any other commercial from homemade fruit and vegetable dyes and
purpose. Teeth had uniform surfaces, could verdigris, the green oxidation you'll see on
be polished into a pleasing sheen and held copper and brass when they corrode.
pigment well. Walrus ivory had similar
characteristics, with added length to craft Is it real?
larger projects such as swifts. If sailors caught As with most antiques, the more you know
other varieties of whales, they used the baleen about the materials and methods used in their
plates from the whale’s mouth to work upon, making, the easier it is to spot a fake. The first
though the fragility of these pieces made them step is to determine if you are working with
less desirable, except to make flexible items organic material or plastic. One method is to
Sea captains’ wives and children sometimes like corset stays or umbrella ribs. use pliers to heat a very thin pin or needle
accompanied them on voyages and produced a fair Whatever hard material one selected and attempt to stick it into your item in an
amount of scrimshaw. Notably, Sallie Smith, the wife needed to first be prepped to remove any inconspicuous spot. If the piece in question
of Captain Frederick Howland Smith, created pieces natural inconsistencies or bumps. Artists
that are just as highly regarded, if not more so, then melts, you’re looking at plastic. Real bone or
those of her male counterparts. Scrimshaw by an scraped their surfaces with a knife and then ivory will show only a small black dot.
unknown artist, ca. 1830-1860 relied on rough sharkskin to sand them. The
carving or engraving itself was done with Continued on page 47
courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum
October 2020 45