Incollect Magazine - Issue 2

Issue 2 84 www.incollect.com Imaginative in design and bold in execution, this tooth, inscribed with the name of the ship Charles of London, is attributed to the British scrimshander known as Britannia Engraver, thought to be among the first whalemen scrimshaw artists. The practice of engraving pictures on sperm whale teeth likely originated with British mariners in the London South Sea sperm whale fishery shortly after the Napoleonic Wars. One side of the tooth depicts an active whaling scene with a sperm whale stoving a whale boat, sending harpoons, lances, a water cask, and four whalemen flying into midair. The Britannia Engraver relief-carved the tail of the whale in black above the waterline and left the whale uncolored in outline underneath the water. The scene shows eight additional whales and the stern of a whaleboat heading fast toward a whale. A relief-carved scallop and pique border encircles the base. This scrimshaw tooth was engraved by Englishman James Adolphus Bute aboard the H.M.S. Beagle during Charles Darwin’s expedition. Born around 1799, Bute had joined the Royal Navy in around 1819. There was often crossover between whaling and the naval service in England, and Bute may have been introduced to scrimshaw during a whaling voyage between stints on naval vessels. In his journal, Syms Covington, assistant to Darwin, lists Bute as a crew member on his second voyage aboard the Beagle (1831–1836), one of six crew members listed as royal marines. The Beagle sailed from Plymouth Sound in 1831 under the command of Captain Robert FitzRoy. While the expedition was originally scheduled to last two years, the Beagle did not return until 1836. Published accounts of the voyage note that in early April 1834, the Beagle was laid on shore for repair in an estuary of the Rio Santa Cruz in Argentina. While repairs were being made, Darwin explored further upriver, with the men having to haul the boats they took with them for most of the journey. Both of these events are illustrated on the tooth. Conrad Martens, the official artist aboard the Beagle , also captured these events in two drawings that mirror the images on the tooth. Given the similarities between Bute’s and Martens’s work, it is possible that Bute was influenced by or collaborated with the artist in creating his pieces of scrimshaw. 3 Attributed to Britannia Engraver, The Ship Charles of London, second quarter 19th century. Sperm whale tooth, pigment. L. 5¼ in. Private collection. Image courtesy of Eldred’s Auction Gallery. James Adolphus Bute (ca. 1799–mid-19th century), Darwin Expedition, ca. 1831–1836. Whale tooth, pigment. L. 7 in. Private collection. Image courtesy of Eldred’s Auction House.