Skip Navigation

Scrimshaw, Whale's Tooth

Decorative Arts and Design

MAKER Unknown
MEDIUM Ivory (whale tooth), pigment
  • Place Made: United States
  • DATES ca. 1825–1835
    DIMENSIONS 5 × 2 3/4 × 2 1/2 in. (12.7 × 7 × 6.4 cm) mount: 5 1/4 × 3 1/2 × 2 3/4 in. (13.3 × 8.9 × 7 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER X613.1
    CREDIT LINE Brooklyn Museum Collection
    PROVENANCE Prior to 1969, provenance not yet documented; before 1969, acquired by the Brooklyn Museum, acquisition method not documented.
    Provenance FAQ
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Sperm whale's tooth with engraved decorations of two portrait medallions (probably taken from a contemporary engraving in a periodical). Medallion on one side is the bust of a lady in evening attire and one of a gentleman in day dress. Saw-tooth edged frames. Top border crosshatched with leaves; bottom pyramids and scallops. Rubbed with black pigment. Condition: Good. Chip and crack at base.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Unknown. Scrimshaw, Whale's Tooth, ca. 1825–1835. Ivory (whale tooth), pigment, 5 × 2 3/4 × 2 1/2 in. (12.7 × 7 × 6.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, X613.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, X613.1_view01_PS11.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, X613.1_view01_PS11.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2021
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
    Unknown. <em>Scrimshaw, Whale's Tooth</em>, ca. 1825–1835. Ivory (whale tooth), pigment, 5 × 2 3/4 × 2 1/2 in. (12.7 × 7 × 6.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, X613.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, X613.1_view01_PS11.jpg)