Hunting a whale
Date1870
Object number00040479
NameScrimshaw
MediumWhalebone or whale tooth
Dimensions45 x 140 x 4 mm
ClassificationsDecorative and folk art
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis scrimshaw depicts a whale hunt. It is believed to have been carved by George Parkin Christian, a great-grandson of Fletcher Christian, in around 1870.HistoryScrimshaw refers to both the act of carving and engraving the teeth and bones of whales, walrus, narwhal and other ivory tusks, and the objects produced as a result. It was particularly common on the long voyages typical of the hunt for sperm whales. Vessels needed large crews to capture and process whales, but at other times these men would have little to do. As Herman Melville wrote in Moby Dick (1851), the results were 'lively sketches of whales and whaling scenes ... or ladies' busks wrought out of the Right Whale bone ... in the hours of ocean leisure.'
It is rare to find scrimshaw with dates and names of makers, although names of ships were sometimes given. It is often impossible to date scrimshaw or to establish the nationality of the carver. The whaling period extended from about the 1780s to the 1890s, with a hiatus in the mid-nineteenth century when whaling declined for a period before factory ship operations began about the 1870s. Seamen used any sharp implement they could find to incise designs. The tip of their knife was the basic tool, but they also used needles and any other kind of tool they could improvise. They used anything from soot to ink or paint to colour the lines.
This engraved whale tooth was attributed by the vendor to George Parkin Christian, a great-grandson of Fletcher Christian of the mutiny on the BOUNTY mutiny. George Parkin Christian lived on Norfolk Island and worked on a number of Sydney whalers including ROBERT TOWNS (1870s), the COSTA RICA PACKET (1880s) and in 1894 joined the CHARLES W MORGAN, sailing on it until 1913.SignificanceScrimshaw itself-traditionally the craft of seamen and whalers passing the time in the intervals between the hectic activity of a whale chase might be seen as a special type of historic document. It came from a by way of maritime history, the ocean whaling era, from the late 18th century to the late 19th century. It speaks for a body of men who were mostly illiterate, and in its subject matter reflects their preoccupations, cultural knowledge and often their domestic lives.
