Whale oil ladle with semi-spherical copper bowl and hand forged steel frame and handle with conical socket
Date19th century
Object number00006594
NameLadle
MediumSteel, copper, wood
DimensionsOverall: 180 x 1655 x 280 mm, 3.4 kg
ClassificationsTools and equipment
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis whale oil ladle, a bailer or dipper, is most likely from a whaling station in the Victor Harbor area in South Australia.HistoryThe processing of oil from the sperm whale was an exhausting and time consuming process but the financial rewards at the time made it a profitable venture. The sperm whaling industry was well and truly established by American industries during the mid C18 and later Britain and France were involved. By the time of settlement in Australia, the demand for whale products was at it its peak.
Hunting for sperm whales took place off shore where, after the whale was hunted and killed, it was then processed on the whaling ship itself. An account of this process describes it as "If the head was of a manageable size, it was brought on deck; if not, it was rigged to the side of the ship, nose down. Right, bowhead, and fin whales were relieved of their baleen, while sperm whales had the spermaceti, a substance contained in a head organ known as the case, bailed out in bucketful’s. “This is the good stuff,” says Philbrick... “It’s as clear as vodka when you first open” the spermaceti organ, “but as soon as it touches air, it begins to oxidize,” taking on white, waxy properties" ("Whaling The Old Way”, James Williford, HUMANITIES, March/April 2010, Volume 31, Number 2).
SignificanceThe sperm whale industry was a highly profitable on in the late C18 to mid C19. Whaling equipment are tangible reminders that at the height of the whaling industry in Australia the economic rewards were seen to outweigh the high risk and extreme efforts involved in the sperm whaling industry.
1800-1899
19th century
19th century
c 1850
19th century
19th century
19th century
19th century
19th century