Scrimshaw

Throughout the semester we’ve been reading texts that revolve around long voyages at sea. What does one do when on a ship for years at a time? They get creative. Scrimshaw is a form of art most commonly associated with American whalemen. Due to their profession, these whalers had easy access to raw materials such as whale teeth, bone, and baleen. They would spend a lot of their time carving and engraving these materials into beautiful works of art. They chose subjects that expressed the prevalent issues in their lives – whales, the hunt, and their desire to return home to their families. For those of you that either didn’t get to see this display or go to Mystic Seaport or the New Bedford Whaling Museum, below are some examples of a scrimshander’s work:

Photo taken by me at Mystic Seaport
Photo taken by me at Mystic Seaport

 

Photo courtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum
Photo courtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also found a really informative video on YouTube about the history of scrimshaw. It includes a tutorial from Brian Kiracofe, a Scrimshaw artist in our own Newport, RI.

(Here’s a link in case the embedded video doesn’t work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKR7T_nDY8U)

Brian has a shop called Scrimshanders, one of a few (others are owned by his brothers), that resides in Bowen’s Wharf in Newport.  There you can buy pieces of scrimshaw that Brian and other scrimshanders have made out of ivory. Their inventory ranges from guitar picks and earrings to  necklaces, pill boxes and money clips. And that’s still not all. One may also purchase Nantucket baskets, which lightship crews used to weave during their eight month tours of duty.

The link to Brian’s store is here if anyone would like to check it out: http://www.scrimshanders.com/pages/index.php?sid=1

The popularity of scrimshaw peaked around the civil war, but died out with whaling itself. However, people like Brian and his brothers are doing their best to keep it alive.

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4 thoughts on “Scrimshaw

  1. I love this post. This is a word I feel like I’ve heard a thousand times: scrimshaw, scrimshaw. I never knew what it meant. I find it rather interesting that a form of art can be invented out of what amounts to be a part of a dead animal. I suppose that with a stroke of boredom, anything is possible! What is really striking is that one can achieve such a picturesque quality with whale bone as a canvas.

  2. Really cool blog about scrimshaw! I too was fascinated at the work displayed at Mystic Seaport. I’ve been Scrimshanders in Newport, and the store is awesome. Definitely worth a stop for anyone who is in that area. The bigger pieces of scrimshaw are pretty expensive, but the smaller pieces might be more affordable. I thought the guitar picks were especially cool.

  3. This is such an interesting post! I’m lovin’ on the scrimshaw. The video is awesome. We should have a -fake- scrimshaw party.

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