Incollect Magazine - Issue 2

Issue 2 82 www.incollect.com by Dr. Alan Granby crimshaw is the art of engraving on or carving items from whale bone, sperm whale teeth, walrus tusks, baleen, and other material byproducts of the nineteenth-century whaling trade. When the whalemen were not engaged in active hunting, processing whale blubber into oil, or routine maintenance of the vessel, they artfully engraved as well as carved all types of utilitarian and decorative items. More so than other mariners, whalers created their own forms of literature, song, and art, and by the mid-nineteenth century, they had developed stylistic conventions and technical skills that distinguished scrimshaw as a distinct occupational handcraft genre. 1 Resourceful whalers used simple tools like needles or jack knives to engrave the teeth or bone, to which they applied materials, such as lampblack, ink, and sealing wax, that left the engraved lines darkened when rubbed off. The range of scrimshaw objects varied from simple, basic engravings to elaborate decorative constructions that required years to make. These intricate and remarkable pieces were often made as gifts for loved ones back home and served as personal mementos of particular voyages. In addition to their beauty, scrimshaw objects provide valuable documentation and insight into the whaler’s life. Scrimshaw: the Whaler’s Art, at the Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cotuit, Massachusetts, tells the surprising history of this unique art form through the stories of makers and recipients of these intricately detailed keepsakes. The exhibition contains more than two hundred important examples of a wide range of decorative and utilitarian objects that evoke connections to historic life on Cape Cod, Nantucket, and New Bedford. Works included are by known scrimshanders Caleb Alboro, Edward Burdett, Nathaniel Finney, William Gilpin, Frederick Myrick, William Lewis Roderick, Banknote Engraver, Naval Engagement Engraver, and several anonymous scrimshanders. On public display for the first time is a scrimshaw whale’s tooth attributed to Nantucket whaleman Edward Burdett (1805–1833) on board the ship Japan of Nantucket during a voyage between 1825 to 1829. Paintings by William Bradford (1823–1892), William John Huggins (1781–1845), and Frederick Jewett (1819–1864) complement the scrimshaw with visual and contextual information on the maritime trade. And having fitted well our ship To pass Cape Horn again, Each man then, fore and aft the ship, Scrimshauning did begin. Then knitting sheaths and jagging knives Were cut in every form, And other trinkets for the girls, As presents from Cape Horn. 2 —From a whaler’s journal, 1820–1823 voyage crimshaw The Whaler’s Art Scrimshaw: The Whaler’s Art is organized by and on view at the Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cotuit, Mass., from June 29 through October 30, 2022. A companion catalog, Wandering Whalemen and Their Art: A Collection of Scrimshaw Masterpieces accompanies the exhibition. Authored by Dr. Alan Granby, with a forward by Dr. Stuart M. Frank, the world-renowned scrimshaw expert. This 376-page book is available at cahoonmuseum.org/visit/museum-shop/. For details on the exhibition and associated programs, visit cahoonmuseum.org/event-calendar/. Dr. Alan Granby is one of the world’s leading experts in the identification, evaluation, and appraisal of scrimshaw. He is co-founder of Hyland Granby Antiques and guest curator of  Scrimshaw: The Whaler’s Art.