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Scrimshaw is engraved and decorative artwork done on whales teeth or whalebone. Whalers passed idle time on whaling ships by creating this artwork. Whaling ships often set out for trips that could last years, so many hours were often spent on creating these artworks. The pieces shown here are from an exhibit at the Nantucket Whaling Museum.
Comments: nantucket scrimshaw
Hello, I recently purchased a Scrimshawed Whale Tooth, as I have always been fascinated with them.
The vendor could not tell me if the piece is genuine Ivory, or if it is antique or contemporary, or even if it is a Reproduction. I am slowly going through Web Sites to learn more about these items, & came across one list that describes some Reproductions. One of the items describes the design on my Tooth, but there are a couple of major discrepancies that show the item on the Web Site is not exactly the item I have.
A retired Art Dealer, Friend of mine, has performed the Hot Needle Test, & my item does not melt, he also says that the colour, shape, & minor cracks are all consistent with an Ivory Whale Tooth, & he is strongly of the opinion that it is a genuine Antique Tooth, as opposed to a Contemporary tooth.
I intend to contact our Museum on Monday to see if I can get it authenticated, meanwhile, in connection with your photos, on this site,several of the Teeth appear to have what I call a “New Growth Ring”, towards the tip of the tooth, possibly where a Tooth has broken & it has regrown. Your photos appear to show an uneven ring in that area, as does mine.
Can you confirm whether that is truly indicative of “New Growth” or even “Normal Growth” please?
Kind Regards, Leslie
Posted by Chevalier: Leslie B. Jones GCR. KCSM from New Zealand on 07/10 at 09:31 PM