The Golden Basket Presents Scrimshaw

Classic scrimshaw was carved from
the teeth and bones of whales and
depicted scenes of whaling life.

Scrimshaw is the nautical folk art of carving objects primarily from whalebone, whale teeth, ivory, or walrus tusks, often engraved with scenes reflecting whaling life. A design is pricked onto the surface with a jackknife or a sail needle; the holes are connected with delicate scratches, rubbed with ink, and then polished with whale oil. The development of scrimshaw parallels the development of the American whaling industry. The word itself likely comes from British slang, "scrimshanker," meaning a time waster. To the contrary, scrimshanding was a productive use of time as whalers spent endless months or years at sea, waiting for a whale sighting.

It's not surprising that the most frequent motif for scrimshaw was the whale. Whalemen lived to hear the call, "Thar she blows," indicating the excitement and resultant profit of a catch. In addition to depictions of whales and ships, scrimshanders also carved lovely native girls, tropical islands, fish and seabirds, their sweethearts back home, their villages, political issues, and war scenes. Nostalgic pictures of their own houses often bore a caption like "Home, sweet home." One whale's tooth displays, on one side, a picture of a respectably attired wife at home; on the other side an exotic South Sea girl in sarong. The caption: "To our Wives and Sweethearts. May they never meet."

Nantucket was the whaling capital of the world, and Nantucketers were famed for their industriousness and their horror of wasted time. A Frenchman observed about them, "I must confess, that I have never seen more ingenuity in the use of the knife; thus the many idle moments of their lives become usefully employed. In the many hours of leisure which their long cruises afford them, they cut and carve a variety of boxes and pretty toys, adapted to different uses which they bring home as testimonies to rememberance to their wives or sweethearts. They have showed me a variety of implements, executed with the greatest neatness and elegance. Almost every man in this island has always two knives in his pocket . . . and they are as difficult to please and as extravagant in the choice and price of their knives as any young buck in Boston would be about his hat, buckles or coat." -- Michel Guillaume St. John de Crevecoeur in "Letters from an American Farmer."

The scrimshanders often presented their creations to their wives at home, as a way to be remembered during the long months away. They carved such useful objects as knife handles, hair ornaments, pie crimpers, letter openers, hat pins, toys, games and boat tools. One box bore the pretty verse:

Remember me when far away
From thee on the stormy sea.
For whatever course I'm steering
My heart still points to thee.

To get a feel for scrimshaw, one must understand something of the whaling industry that fostered it. American whaling goes back to the first settlers of the New World. Pilgrims on the Mayflower, anchored at Cape Cod, noted that "large whales of the best kind for oil and bone came daily alongside and played about the ship." It is even said that the Mayflower herself was used as a whaler. In the mid-1600's, New Englanders on Long Island, Cape Cod and Nantucket likely learned off-shore whaling from the Algonquian Indians, whose skill at harpooning was legendary. After capturing and killing a whale, it was towed to land where its parts were cut up and processed. The smell of the boiling oil was so noxious that one town set a fine of 5 pounds for anyone who processed "any oyle in this towne nearer than 25 poles from Main Street." While on one of these long voyages, one could go months at a time without spotting a whale or having anything to do other than argue with other bored sailors. Thus, sailors began scrimshawing to occupy themselves.


	Today, scrimshaw is still practiced on Nantucket by master scrimshanders. Techniques have changed over the years to include colored scrimshaw as well as the traditional black. Environmentally conscious scrimshanders have replaced ivory and whale's teeth with man-made renewable materials that simulate the original.
	This beautiful work can be seen at THE GOLDEN BASKET where today's master scrimshanders create authentic works of art to decorate Glenaan's original miniature gold baskets and handwoven lightship baskets.
	An example of the scrimshaw that you will find on Glenaan's woven Nantucket Lightship Baskets

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