Scrimshaw is the decorative and utilitarian objects created from the by-products of the whale hunt such as whalebone, baleen and walrus ivory by whalemen or sailors during the age of whaling. Historic scrimshaw was made before the final American whaling voyage in 1929. Defined by Dr. Stuart M. Frank. It is important to note that scrimshaw was made from non-saleable whale parts. The most valuable whale product was sperm whale oil that provided the brightest, cleanest source for interior lighting. The industry peaked in 1850. The discovery of plentiful oil in Pennsylvania in1859 and the expansion of the rail system began the long decline of the whaling industry. The creation of classic scrimshaw mirrored the vagaries of the whaling industry. The bulk of American scrimshaw was produced from around 1818 through the end of that century. Without provenance dating utilitarian scrimshaw is difficult. Most pieces are undated. There are some design characteristics of early canes and corset busks that give age hints, but the rest are inconclusive. Pictorial scrimshaw is different. Many images found on scrimshaw were copied or transferred from dated printed sources like magazines, newspapers and pulp publications. Other clues for dating are fashion or costume design, patriotic motifs, stars on American flags and vessel names.
The first American master of pictorial scrimshaw was Edward Burdett of Nantucket who went to sea in 1818 and was lost during a hunt in 1833. His contemporary Frederick Myrick, also from Nantucket, was active 1828-1829. These are among the earliest known American scrimshanders.
Information taken from an unpublished manuscript by the contributor
Engravings and carvings done in bone or ivory, created by sailors
American whaling ships, scrimshaw on whale tooth, c. 1800
Scrimshaw is scrollwork, engravings, and carvings done in bone or ivory. Typically it refers to the artwork created by whalers, engraved on the byproducts of whales, such as bones or cartilage. It is most commonly made out of the bones and teeth of sperm whales, the baleen of other whales, and the tusks of walruses.
It takes the form of elaborate engravings in the form of pictures and lettering on the surface of the bone or tooth, with the engraving highlighted using a pigment, or, less often, small sculptures made from the same material. However, the latter really fall into the categories of ivory carving, for all carved teeth and tusks, or bone carving. The making of scrimshaw probably began on whaling ships in the late 18th century and survived until the ban on commercial whaling. The practice survives as a hobby and as a trade for commercial artisans. A maker of scrimshaw is known as a scrimshander.[1] The word first appeared in the logbook of the brig By Chance in 1826,[2] but the etymology is uncertain.[3]
History and materials
Carved whale bone whistle dated 1821. 8 centimetres (3.1in) long. Belonged to a 'Peeler' in the Metropolitan Police Service in London.Pair of walrus tusks depicting a sailor and a woman. Rhode Island or Connecticut, circa 1900Closeup of a sailorCloseup of a womanScrimshaw cribbage board. Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver. 2010
Scrimshaw developed from the practice of sailors on whaling ships creating common tools, where the byproducts of whales were readily available. The term originally referred to the making of these tools, only later referring to works of art created by whalers in their spare time. Whale bone was ideally suited for the task, as it is easy to work and was plentiful.
The widespread carving of scrimshaw was enabled when the 1815 publication of the journal of U.S. Navy Captain David Porter disclosed both the market and the source of the whale teeth, causing a surplus of whale teeth that greatly diminished their value and made them available as a material for ordinary seamen.[4] Around this time is the earliest authenticated pictorial piece of sperm whale scrimshaw (1817). The tooth was inscribed: "This is the tooth of a sperm whale that was caught near the Galápagos Islands by the crew of the ship Adam [of London], and made 100 barrels of oil in the year 1817."[5]
Other sea animal ivories were used as alternatives to the rarer whale teeth. Walrus tusks, for example, may have been acquired in trade from indigenous walrus hunters.
Scrimshaw was a leisure activity for creative whalers. Life aboard a whaling ship often included long stretches of time between whale sightings, which gave those onboard a great deal of free time for creative pursuits.
Early scrimshaw was done with sailing needles or other sharp implements, and the movement of the ship, as well as the skill of the artist, produced drawings of varying levels of detail and artistry. Typically, readily available pigments onboard a whaleship like candle black, soot, or tobacco juice were used to bring the etched design into view. Ink, while used in some cases, was a more expensive and rarer option for this purpose. Many surviving examples of scrimshaw are unsigned, and a great many of the pieces are anonymous.
Today's artists use finer tools in various sizes, mostly borrowed from the dental industry. Some scrimshanders ink their work with more than one color, and restrained polychromed examples of this art are now popular.
Originating in an era when sperm whales were plentiful, only to be hunted to near collapse, scrimshaw is no longer an artform utilizing an easily renewable animal resource, but one that is susceptible to contraband. The Endangered Species Act and international conventions restricted the harvest and sale of ivory in an effort to bolster populations of ivory-bearing animals.
Though there are sources of ivory that are sanctioned and legal, poachers in Africa and other continents where elephants are an endangered species still kill for their ivory. Elephant ivory has been regulated since 1976 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and selling African ivory has been prohibited since 1989.
19th and 20th century scrimshaw crafted before 1989 (elephant) or before 1973 (sperm whale ivory, walrus ivory etc.) is legal. It is prohibited after those years for commercial import in the U.S. under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Walrus tusks bearing the Alaska State walrus ivory registration tag, and post-law walrus ivory that has been carved or scrimshawed by an indigenous Alaskan, is legal.
Ancient ivory, such as 10,000- to 40,000-year-old mammoth or fossilized walrus ivory, is unrestricted in its sale or possession under federal law.
Scrimshanders and collectors acquire legal whale teeth and marine tusks through estate sales, auctions and antique dealers. To avoid illegal ivory, collectors and artists check provenance and deal only with established and reputable dealers. Scrimshaw that is found to have been illegally sourced may be seized by customs officials worldwide, dramatically loses value and is very hard to re-sell, as the limited channels through which collectible scrimshaw passes serves as a check on unscrupulous persons. As with any other fine art form, it is possible for experienced museums, auction houses or other experts to detect a fake.
Scrimshaw can also be practical tools that are hand carved by the scrimshander. They carved useful tools such as the jagging wheel. which is a multi-purpose tool used to pierce and trim a pie crust. Corset busks were carved from bone or ivory.
Care and preservation
Ivory is a fragile medium; many 19th-century pieces were preserved because they were kept in a barrel of oil on board ship. Gary Kiracofe, a scrimshander in Nantucket, Massachusetts, advises collectors that if a piece looks dry, one should fill the center of the tooth with unscented baby oil and allow it to remain until as much oil as possible is soaked into the microscopic pores of the ivory.[citation needed] Clear paste wax or high-end car wax will seal the surface after oiling. Bone items are even more fragile (more fibrous and porous) and may be treated the same way: with a light clear mineral oil. Organic oils are inadvisable, as they will eventually hasten discoloration, as on old piano keys subjected to the natural oils in one's hands.
Professional conservators of art and historic artifacts generally recommend against applying any type of dressing (like oil or wax) to organic objects such as whale ivory. Sensible choices regarding storage and display preserve whale ivory best: keep out of direct sunlight, handle with cotton gloves or freshly washed hands, and avoid keeping in places with shifting humidity and temperature. Coating organic objects can induce eventual cracking.
Design
Whale teeth and bones were a highly variable medium, used to produce both practical pieces, such as hand tools, toys and kitchen utensils, and highly decorative pieces, which were purely ornamental. The designs on the pieces varied greatly as well, though they often had whaling scenes on them. For example, Herman Melville, in Moby-Dick, refers to "lively sketches of whales and whaling-scenes, graven by the fishermen themselves on Sperm Whale-teeth, or ladies' busks wrought out of the Right Whale-bone, and other skrimshander articles".[6] Most engravings were adapted from books and papers.[citation needed]
Collections
A significant amount of the original scrimshaw created by whalers is currently held by museums.[citation needed] Museums with significant collections include:
[New Bedford Whaling Museum]] in [[New Bedford, Massachusetts]which includes the Kendall Whaling Museum Collection is the largest scrimshaw collection in the world.
A small collection of scrimshaw, Smithsonian Scrimshaw Collection
Modern scrimshaw
Example of modern scrimshaw by artist Edmund Davidson in his “African Big Five” integral knife. Scrimshaw by Linda Karst Stone.
While scrimshaw artists rarely use whale bone anymore, it is still employed by a few. Common modern materials are micarta, ivory (elephant, fossil, walrus), hippo tusk, warthog ivory, buffalo horn, giraffe bone, mother of pearl, and camel bone. Modern scrimshaw typically retains the nautical themes of historical scrimshaw, but can also extend well beyond the traditional motifs.
Contemporary trade and carving techniques have led to more advanced, but fewer unique scrimshaw carvings. Collectors are advised to be aware of fakes.[8]
See also
Chip work – glassware, engraved in a similar manner
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is the same, regardless of the species of origin, but ivory contains structures of mineralised collagen. The trade in certain teeth and tusks other than elephant is well established and widespread; therefore, "ivory" can correctly be used to describe any mammalian teeth or tusks of commercial interest which are large enough to be carved or scrimshawed.
Walrus ivory, also known as morse, comes from two modified upper canines of a walrus. The tusks grow throughout life and may, in the Pacific walrus, attain a length of one metre. Walrus teeth are commercially carved and traded; the average walrus tooth has a rounded, irregular peg shape and is approximately 5 cm in length.
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. It is the largest city in the region and second largest city in the Providence Metropolitan Region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Indians. English colonists bought the land on which New Bedford would later be built from the Wampanoag in 1652, and the original colonial settlement that would later become the city was founded by English Quakers in the late 17th century. The town of New Bedford itself was officially incorporated in 1787.
A netsuke is a miniature sculpture, originating in 17th century Japan. Initially a simply-carved button fastener on the cords of an inrō box, netsuke later developed into ornately sculpted objects of craftsmanship.
Charles W. Morgan is an American whaling ship built in 1841 that was active during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Ships of this type were used to harvest the blubber of whales for whale oil which was commonly used in lamps. Charles W. Morgan has served as a museum ship since the 1940s and is now an exhibit at the Mystic Seaport museum in Mystic, Connecticut. She is the world's oldest surviving (non-wrecked) merchant vessel, the only surviving wooden whaling ship from the 19th century American merchant fleet, and second to USS Constitution, the oldest seaworthy vessel in the world. Charles W. Morgan was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.
The Ann Alexander was a three-masted ship from New Bedford, Massachusetts. She is notable for having been rammed and sunk by a wounded sperm whale in the South Pacific on August 20, 1851, some 30 years after the famous incident in which the Essex was stove in and sunk by a whale in the same area.
A tabua is a polished tooth of a sperm whale that is an important cultural item in Fijian society. They were traditionally given as gifts for atonement or esteem, and were important in negotiations between rival chiefs. The dead men would be buried with their tabua, along with war clubs and even their strangled wives, to help them in the afterlife. Originally they were very rare items, available only from beached whales and from trade from neighbouring Tonga, but when the market became known in the early 19th century thousands of teeth, and fake teeth made from ivory and walrus tusks entered the market. This trade led to the development of the European art of scrimshaw.
Pequod is a fictional 19th-century Nantucket whaling ship that appears in the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by American author Herman Melville. Pequod and her crew, commanded by Captain Ahab, are central to the story, which, after the initial chapters, takes place almost entirely aboard the ship during a three-year whaling expedition in the Atlantic, Indian and South Pacific oceans. Most of the characters in the novel are part of Pequod's crew.
The New Bedford Whaling Museum is a museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States that focuses on the history, science, art, and culture of the international whaling industry, and the colonial region of Old Dartmouth in the South Coast of Massachusetts. The museum is governed by the Old Dartmouth Historical Society (ODHS), which was established in 1903 "to create and foster an interest in the history of Old Dartmouth." Since then, the museum has expanded its scope to include programming that addresses global issues "including the consequences of natural resource exhaustion, the diversification of industry, and tolerance in a multicultural society." Its collections include over 750,000 items, including 3,000 pieces of scrimshaw and 2,500 logbooks from whaling ships, both of which are the largest collections in the world, as well as five complete whale skeletons. The museum's complex consists of several contiguous buildings housing 20 exhibit galleries and occupying an entire city block within the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, although operated independently.
Ivory carving is the carving of ivory, that is to say animal tooth or tusk, generally by using sharp cutting tools, either mechanically or manually. Objects carved in ivory are often called "ivories".
The Whaling Museum & Education Center, formerly known as The Whaling Museum, is a maritime museum located in Cold Spring Harbor, New York dedicated to the local history, the maritime heritage of Long Island and its impact on the whaling industry.
Bone carving is creating art, tools, and other goods by carving animal bones, antlers, and horns. It can result in the ornamentation of a bone by engraving, painting or another technique, or the creation of a distinct formed object. Bone carving has been practiced by a variety of world cultures, sometimes as a cheaper, and recently a legal, substitute for ivory carving. As a material it is inferior to ivory in terms of hardness, and so the fine detail that is possible, and lacks the "lustrous" surface of ivory. The interior of bones are softer and even less capable of a fine finish, so most uses are as thin plaques, rather than sculpture in the round. But it must always have been much easier to obtain in regions without populations of elephants, walrus or other sources of ivory.
Alaska Native cultures are rich and diverse, and their art forms are representations of their history, skills, tradition, adaptation, and nearly twenty thousand years of continuous life in some of the most remote places on earth. These art forms are largely unseen and unknown outside the state of Alaska, due to distance from the art markets of the world.
Commercial whaling in the United States dates to the 17th century in New England. The industry peaked in 1846–1852, and New Bedford, Massachusetts, sent out its last whaler, the John R. Mantra, in 1927. The whaling industry was engaged with the production of three different raw materials: whale oil, spermaceti oil, and whalebone. Whale oil was the result of "trying-out" whale blubber by heating in water. It was a primary lubricant for machinery, whose expansion through the Industrial Revolution depended upon before the development of petroleum-based lubricants in the second half of the 19th century. Once the prized blubber and spermaceti had been extracted from the whale, the remaining majority of the carcass was discarded.
Sperm whaling is the human practice of hunting sperm whales, the largest toothed whale and the deepest-diving marine mammal species, for the oil, meat and bone that can be extracted from the cetaceans' bodies.
The Nantucket Whaling Museum is a museum located in Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States. It is run by the Nantucket Historical Association. The Whaling Museum is the flagship site of the Nantucket Historical Association’s fleet of properties.
Edouard A. Stackpole was an American journalist, museum curator, whaling historian and writer.
The conservation and restoration of ivory objects is the process of maintaining and preserving objects that are ivory or include ivory material. Conservation and restoration are aimed at preserving the ivory material and physical form along with the objects condition and treatment documentation. Activities dedicated to the preservation of ivory objects include preventing agents of deterioration that specifically connect with ivory as a material, preventative conservation, and treatment of ivory objects. Conservators, curators, collections managers, and other museum personnel are in charge of taking the necessary measurements to ensure that ivory objects are well maintained and will make the decision for any conservation and restoration of the objects.
Ushki Bay is a small bay in Khabarovsk Krai, Russian Federation.
Tom Akeya is an Inuit ivory carver. His work has been sold in multiple places.
Bibliography: Ashley, Clifford W. The Yankee Whaler. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1926. (scrim Pp. 111-116) Barnes, Clare, Jr., John F. Kennedy Scrimshaw Collector. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1969. Bowen, Abel. The Naval Monument. Boston. 1816, 1837. Carpenter, Charles H. Jr. and Mary Grace. The Decorative Arts and Crafts of Nantucket. N.Y. Dodd, Mead & Company, 1987. Dietrich, H. Richard III and Rebuck, Deborah M. In Pursuit of History. New Haven. Yale University Press. 2019, p. 282 Dike, Catherine. Canes in the United States. Illustrated Mementoes of American History 1607-1953. Ladue, MO. 1994. Flayderman, Norman. Scrimshaw & Scrimshanders. 1972. Frank, Stuart M. Biographical Dictionary of Scrimshaw Artists. 2018. Frank, Stuart M. Dictionary of Scrimshaw Artists. 1991. Frank, Stuart M. Ingenious Contrivances. 2012. Frank, Stuart M. More Scrimshaw Artists. 1998. Frank, Stuart M. Scrimshaw and Provenance. A Third Dictionary of Scrimshaw Artists 2013. Frank, Stuart M. Scrimshaw on Nantucket. The Collection of the Nantucket Historical Association. Nantucket, Ma. Nantucket Historical Association. 2019. Hegarty, Reginald B. Addendum to “Starbuck” and “Whaling Masters”. 1964. Hegarty, Reginald B. Returns of Whaling Vessels Sailing from American Ports 1876-1928. New Bedford, The Old Dartmouth Historical Society and Whaling Museum.1959. Hellman, Nina. Through the Eyes of a Collector. The Scrimshaw Collection of Thomas Mittler. n.p. Charlotte Mittler, 2015. Henderson, J. Welles and Carlisle, Rodney P. Jack Tarr. A Sailor’s Life 1750-1910. Woodbridge, Suffolk, U.K. Antique Collectors’ Club, Ltd. 1999. Lund, Judith N., Josephson, Elizabeth A., Reeves, Randall R., Smith, Tim D. American Offshore Whaling Voyages 1667-1927. 2 Vols. New Bedford, Old Dartmouth Historical Society, 2010. Malley, Richard C. Graven by the fishermen themselves Scrimshaw in Mystic Seaport Museum. 1983. (pp.70-73 Naval Monument Engraver) McManus, Michael. A Treasury of American Scrimshaw. 1997. Melville, Herman. Moby Dick or the Whale. N.Y. Random House, 1930 Meyer, Charles R. Whaling and the Art of Scrimshaw. 1976. N.Y.: David McKay Company, Inc. 1976 New Bedford and Old Dartmouth: A Portrait of a Region’s Past. New Bedford, Old Dartmouth Historical Association, 1976. Ridley, Donald E. and West, Janet. Frederick Myrick of Nantucket: Physical Characteristics of the Scrimshaw. 2000. Ridley, Donald E. and Frank, Stuart M. Frederick Myrick of Nantucket Scrimshaw Catalog Raisonne. 2000. Snyder, Jeffrey B. Canes From the Seventeenth Century to the Twentieth Century. Atgen, PA. 1993. Stackpole, Edouard A. Scrimshaw at Mystic Seaport. Mystic Ct., The Marine Historical Association. Pub. 33, 2nd ed. 1966. Starbuck, Alexander. History of the American Whale Fishery. 1989 ed. Webster, F.W., ed. Shipbuilding Cyclopedia. 1920.
Monographs and Articles Basseches, Joshua and Frank, Stuart M. Edward Burdett, 1805-1833 America’s First Master Scrimshaw Artist. 1991. Chang, Jack H.T. and Brust, James S. Imprint Journal of the American Historical Print Collectors Society, Vol. 36, No. 2 Autumn 2011 pp.9-11. “Ladies Fashion Plates and Other Illustrations Used for Scrimshaw” Huster, H. Harrison. “Scrimshaw: one part whalebone, two pats nostalgia”. The Magazine Antiques. August 1961. Pp. 122-125. Malloy, Mary. Tales from a “Skillful Hand”: Three teeth and Documentation by Jonathan Blaney Walton. The Scrimshaw Observer. Vol. 3, No. 3., Fall 2019. Pp. 2-5. Vardeman, Paul. “2000 Pieces of Scrimshaw? The Collection of Meylert Armstrong”. The Scrimshaw Observer. Vol 2., No. 2., Spring 2018. Pp. 3-4. Wilson, Claggett. Scrimshaw, The Whalman’s Art. The Magazine Antiques. November 1944. Pp. 278-281.
Magazine Antiques Scrimshaw Articles:
June 1922 Pp. 260-262. Oct. 1936 Pp. 153-155 Nov. 1944. Pp. 278-281 July 1954. Pp. 47-49
New York Times Articles: April 25, 1955, pp. 14 “Greenwich Home Clings to Sea Art” Oct. 2, 1963, Pp. 44, Rita Reif, “Auction’s Drama Starts with Weeks of Backstage Work”.
Further reading
Stevens, Jim (2008). Scrimshaw Techniques, History, Gallery, Equipment, Types of Ivory, Alternative Materials, Cutting, Sanding, Polishing, Creating Images, Inlays and Basing, Scrimshaw Techniques and Inking, Pub: Schiffer Publishing, ISBN978-0-7643-2831-2
Stevens, Jim (2008). Advanced Scrimshaw Techniques, Types of Ivory, Alternative Materials, Color Techniques, Power Scrimshaw, Carving, Imitations and Fakes, Repair, Conservation, Restoration, Glossary, Pub: Schiffer Publishing, ISBN978-0-7643-3017-9
Stevens, Jim (2010). Powder Horns: Fabrication & Decoration, Powder horn working, shaping, decorating, and finishing techniques. Historic and modern tools illustrate inlays, engrailing, and how to scrimshaw powder horns. Pub: Schiffer Publishing, ISBN978-0-7643-3017-9
Halat, Eva (2006). Contemporary Scrimshaw. Verlag Angelika Hörnig. ISBN3-9808743-8-9.
Bibliography: Ashley, Clifford W. The Yankee Whaler. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1926. (scrim Pp. 111-116) Barnes, Clare, Jr., John F. Kennedy Scrimshaw Collector. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1969. Bowen, Abel. The Naval Monument. Boston. 1816, 1837. Carpenter, Charles H. Jr. and Mary Grace. The Decorative Arts and Crafts of Nantucket. N.Y. Dodd, Mead & Company, 1987. Dietrich, H. Richard III and Rebuck, Deborah M. In Pursuit of History. New Haven. Yale University Press. 2019, p. 282 Dike, Catherine. Canes in the United States. Illustrated Mementoes of American History 1607-1953. Ladue, MO. 1994. Flayderman, Norman. Scrimshaw & Scrimshanders. 1972. Frank, Stuart M. Biographical Dictionary of Scrimshaw Artists. 2018. Frank, Stuart M. Dictionary of Scrimshaw Artists. 1991. Frank, Stuart M. Ingenious Contrivances. 2012. Frank, Stuart M. More Scrimshaw Artists. 1998. Frank, Stuart M. Scrimshaw and Provenance. A Third Dictionary of Scrimshaw Artists 2013. Frank, Stuart M. Scrimshaw on Nantucket. The Collection of the Nantucket Historical Association. Nantucket, Ma. Nantucket Historical Association. 2019. Hegarty, Reginald B. Addendum to “Starbuck” and “Whaling Masters”. 1964. Hegarty, Reginald B. Returns of Whaling Vessels Sailing from American Ports 1876-1928. New Bedford, The Old Dartmouth Historical Society and Whaling Museum.1959. Hellman, Nina. Through the Eyes of a Collector. The Scrimshaw Collection of Thomas Mittler. n.p. Charlotte Mittler, 2015. Henderson, J. Welles and Carlisle, Rodney P. Jack Tarr. A Sailor’s Life 1750-1910. Woodbridge, Suffolk, U.K. Antique Collectors’ Club, Ltd. 1999. Lund, Judith N., Josephson, Elizabeth A., Reeves, Randall R., Smith, Tim D. American Offshore Whaling Voyages 1667-1927. 2 Vols. New Bedford, Old Dartmouth Historical Society, 2010. Malley, Richard C. Graven by the fishermen themselves Scrimshaw in Mystic Seaport Museum. 1983. (pp.70-73 Naval Monument Engraver) McManus, Michael. A Treasury of American Scrimshaw. 1997. Melville, Herman. Moby Dick or the Whale. N.Y. Random House, 1930 Meyer, Charles R. Whaling and the Art of Scrimshaw. 1976. N.Y.: David McKay Company, Inc. 1976 New Bedford and Old Dartmouth: A Portrait of a Region’s Past. New Bedford, Old Dartmouth Historical Association, 1976. Ridley, Donald E. and West, Janet. Frederick Myrick of Nantucket: Physical Characteristics of the Scrimshaw. 2000. Ridley, Donald E. and Frank, Stuart M. Frederick Myrick of Nantucket Scrimshaw Catalog Raisonne. 2000. Snyder, Jeffrey B. Canes From the Seventeenth Century to the Twentieth Century. Atgen, PA. 1993. Stackpole, Edouard A. Scrimshaw at Mystic Seaport. Mystic Ct., The Marine Historical Association. Pub. 33, 2nd ed. 1966. Starbuck, Alexander. History of the American Whale Fishery. 1989 ed. Webster, F.W., ed. Shipbuilding Cyclopedia. 1920.
Monographs and Articles Basseches, Joshua and Frank, Stuart M. Edward Burdett, 1805-1833 America’s First Master Scrimshaw Artist. 1991. Chang, Jack H.T. and Brust, James S. Imprint Journal of the American Historical Print Collectors Society, Vol. 36, No. 2 Autumn 2011 pp.9-11. “Ladies Fashion Plates and Other Illustrations Used for Scrimshaw” Huster, H. Harrison. “Scrimshaw: one part whalebone, two pats nostalgia”. The Magazine Antiques. August 1961. Pp. 122-125. Malloy, Mary. Tales from a “Skillful Hand”: Three teeth and Documentation by Jonathan Blaney Walton. The Scrimshaw Observer. Vol. 3, No. 3., Fall 2019. Pp. 2-5. Vardeman, Paul. “2000 Pieces of Scrimshaw? The Collection of Meylert Armstrong”. The Scrimshaw Observer. Vol 2., No. 2., Spring 2018. Pp. 3-4. Wilson, Claggett. Scrimshaw, The Whalman’s Art. The Magazine Antiques. November 1944. Pp. 278-281.
Magazine Antiques Scrimshaw Articles:
June 1922 Pp. 260-262. Oct. 1936 Pp. 153-155 Nov. 1944. Pp. 278-281 July 1954. Pp. 47-49
New York Times Articles: April 25, 1955, pp. 14 “Greenwich Home Clings to Sea Art” Oct. 2, 1963, Pp. 44, Rita Reif, “Auction’s Drama Starts with Weeks of Backstage Work”.
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Detail on a piece in the Smithsonian Museum collection
Sperm whale jawbone and teeth in the collection of the Scrimshaw Museum in Horta, Azores
Detail on a piece in the Horta Scrimshaw Museum
Scrimshaw cribbage board at The Mariners' Museum
A small collection of scrimshaw, Smithsonian Scrimshaw Collection
