Incollect Magazine - Issue 2

Nathaniel Sylvester Finney may be the only former whaleman to become a professional scrimshander after retiring from whaling. Regarded as among the most technically accomplished of the pictorial artists, his rendition of key historic figures of the American Revolution displays the breadth of his skill. Born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, records of his voyages include a tour as second mate of the Bramin , as second mate of the Rodman , and as first mate of the Bartholomew Gosnold , all originating out of the port of New Bedford. Beginning in the late 1860s, he lived in San Francisco, out of a shop on Meiggs Wharf, a lively locale clustered with nautical and curiosity shops, described as a “lounging place for ancient mariners.” This large engraved panbone—a section from a sperm whale’s jaw—appeared in the New Bedford Republican Standard and the San Francisco Bulletin in 1857. Taken from a “20-barrel sperm fellow” that Finney participated in killing, it was engraved by him with heroes of the American Revolution and portraits of politicians. The images were based on illustrations in books and magazines, adjusted to fit the size and shape of the panbone. Born on Nantucket, Edward Burdett was the son of a prominent merchant sea captain. He went on his first voyage at the age of seventeen, on the ship Foster, under Captain Shubael Chase. His last voyage was aboard the Nantucket whale ship Montano in 1833, when, while in pursuit of a harpooned whale, Burdett became entangled in the line, was yanked overboard and drowned. Deaths were commonplace aboard American whale ships in the nineteenth century, yet few were caused by whales or occurred during pursuit. This tragic accident was a dramatic exception. Burdett was also a master scrimshaw artisan. In this example, demonstrating skilled attention to the ship’s details, rather than incising the lines of his design, Burdett gouged out the surface of the ivory in certain areas, resulting in a more powerful image. A remarkable depiction of a moment of life at sea and the business of whaling, it has never before been publicly exhibited. Engraved “JAPAN – Bound to the USA,” it is thought to be the first example of a scrimshaw tooth by Burdett, and since he was one of the earliest American scrimshanders, this engraved whale tooth is possibly the first known example of American scrimshaw. The history of the tooth has been recently documented in an essay by noted scrimshaw expert and historian Paul Vardeman. Incollect Magazine 83 2022 Attributed to Edward Burdett (1805-1833), Whaleship Japan of Nantucket Homeward Bound to the USA, ca. 1825– 1829. Sperm whale tooth, pigment. L. 5¾ in. Private collection. Image courtesy of Eldred’s Auction Gallery. Nathaniel Sylvester Finney (1813–1879), Civic Heroes of the American Revolution, 1857. Whale panbone, metal, wood, pigment, L. 42¼, W. 15, D. 7½ in. Collection of and image courtesy of Mariners’ Museum and Park (1933.0134.000001).