Scrimshaw

Scrimshaw is scrollwork, engravings, and carvings done in bone or ivory. Typically it refers to the artwork created by <a href="/facts/Whaling/rvUqYp0E">whalers</a>, engraved on the byproducts of whales, such as bones or cartilage. It is most commonly made out of the <a href="/facts/Bone/kwJaR6IQ">bones</a> and <a href="/facts/Tooth/Wc6IqwVf">teeth</a> of <a href="/facts/Sperm_whale/mBUge07C">sperm whales</a>, the <a href="/facts/Baleen/WEWk6WMc">baleen</a> of other <a href="/facts/Whale/EMJBgXfb">whales</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Tusk/FovweWbM">tusks</a> of <a href="/facts/Walrus/Vxz3NIww">walruses</a>.
It takes the form of elaborate <a href="/facts/Engraving/0hCX4flU">engravings</a> in the form of pictures and lettering on the surface of the bone or tooth, with the engraving highlighted using a <a href="/facts/Pigment/I3clCYkF">pigment</a>, or, less often, small <a href="/facts/Sculpture/F01q8gtb">sculptures</a> made from the same material. However, the latter really fall into the categories of <a href="/facts/Ivory_carving/PkDWsByP">ivory carving</a>, for all carved teeth and tusks, or <a href="/facts/Bone_carving/PhD8q98c">bone carving</a>. The making of scrimshaw probably began on whaling ships in the late 18th century and survived until the ban on commercial whaling. The practice survives as a <a href="/facts/Hobby/MH1aFd8v">hobby</a> and as a trade for commercial artisans. A maker of scrimshaw is known as a scrimshander. The word first appeared in the logbook of the brig By Chance in 1826, but the etymology is uncertain.

Scrimshaw open-in-new

Scrimshaw