East Bay, RI
East Bay Newspapers
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Westport whalers practiced the art of scrimshaw
The origin of the term scrimshaw remains a mystery but nearly everyone around New England seaports knows what scrimshaw looks like. By the time Dr. Stuart Frank, senior curator of the New Bedford Whaling Museum, completed his talk to members of the Westport Historical Society on Sunday, Nov. 6, they knew the names of 16 Westport whalemen who practiced this art form.
Dr. Frank has written extensively about whaling and is a leading authority on maritime history. His power point presentation, with lots of scrimshaw photos and captions, sped along like a fully canvassed Westport whaler captained by an experienced skipper with a good sense of humor.
Scrimshaw refers to the carving or engraving of sperm whale ivory, baleen, or skeletal whalebone. These materials had less commercial value than spermaceti or whale oil and were given to the seamen to do with as they pleased. The most recognized form of scrimshaw is probably the sperm whale tooth that could be polished to a high gloss then engraved with a whale hunting scene or a whaling ship.
Baleen (sometimes called whale bone) was derived from the boney plate in the mouths of certain kinds of whales (not including sperm whales) and was used to make corset stays, hoops for women's skirts, frames for hats, fans, umbrella ribs, swifts, fishing rods, and more.
"Scrimshaw was a characteristic occupational interest of most of the men who went whaling, men who tried it at one time or another, of course with varying degrees of talent," Dr. Frank said.
The rise and fall of the era of scrimshaw parallels the rise and decline of the American whaling industry and spans from the early to late 1800. "There are about 25 great scrimshaw artists we know by name or by reputation, and none of them, at least so far, are known to be from Westport," Dr. Frank said.
Entry into these hallowed ranks requires that a man have several excellent examples of scrimshaw attributed to him. Although Westport men authored some fine examples, as of now they have only one or two outstanding objects apiece attributed to them.
Whaling voyages were generally measured in years. No matter how many whales the ship could harvest, and how many times the deck could be swabbed, the sails mended, the rigging set or furled, there were thousands of hours where nothing else happened. Scrimshaw was a good remedy for boredom. Michael Cumiskey, of Westport by way of Charlestown, went a-whaling from 1835 to 1859.
Aboard the bark Abigail in the 1830s, he wrote in his journal, "I am unsettled for the want of work, saw nothing, and work all done. An idle head is the workshop for the devil, employed scrimsham."
Researching the identity of scrimshaw artists is as challenging a task as harpooning a whale. "Only about one percent of scrimshaw is signed and maybe up to five percent can be reasonably attributed to a named person," Dr. Frank said.
"We don't always know the names of the master scrimshaw artists, but we identify them by stylistic characteristics, the same way one would identify an unsigned Rembrandt," he said. And since the work was often undated, "We can identify the period the piece was illustrated by observing the clothing the people were wearing."
According to Dr. Frank, the first American whose great scrimshaw is positively identified is that of Edward Burdett of Nantucket. Ironically, both the beauty of the art and the danger of the occupation are evident in Burdett's story. At the age of 27, he was dragged to his death when he was caught up in a harpoon line. From 1825 until 1833 he made nearly 40 beautifully engraved sperm whale teeth, some of which are in the New Bedford Whaling Museum collection.
Several outstanding pieces made by Westport men stood out in the show. One was a double -cage swift (yarn winder) with beautifully crafted slats, fastened with handmade brass rivets and probably made by Peleg Sanford between 1828 and 1850. An extraordinarily elaborate device, it could have taken three years to make. Other examples were two inlaid cribbage-board boxes, one decorated with horseshoes and the suits of cards, the other with geometrical figures most likely made at the tail end of the whaling era by Andrew Corey sometime between 1888 and 1916.
Alexander Augustus Tripp, born and bred in Westport, made his first voyage on the frigate Elizabeth as cabin boy in 1840. He was reported as fashioning water dippers with whalebone handles attached to coconut shell ladles but theyâve never come to light.
Seamen's journals in the whaling museum are full of accounts of on-board scrimshaw activity. Dr. Frank, ever the optimist, thinks it's possible that scrimshaw items like Tripp's water dipper are gathering dust in attics or closets in homes on the southeast coast.
"Keep your eyes open for these dippers because we'd like to see them," he said.
Dr. Frank has been cataloguing the New Bedford Whaling Museums scrimshaw collection in preparation for a major permanent scrimshaw exhibit. Examples of scrimshaw from the museum's collection may be viewed at www.whalingmuseum.org.
Westporters who made scrimshaw...
Dr. Stuart Frank's research revealed the following facts about Westport men who are believed to have made scrimshaw.
* Asa Russell Gifford - whaling captain of ships Roscius, Roscoe; whaled between 1829-1856
Scrimshaw - Letter seal with the name of his father-in-law James H. Beetle; sperm whale tooth with pinprick-transfer views of a full-rigged ship under-way and a trotting horse; a large bodkin; a whale ivory needle; and a whale ivory tatting shuttle
*Horace Young - captain of Westport bark President, whaled between 1832-1856
Scrimshaw -- the famous "Hands Box"
*Michael Cumiskey -whaling captain of ships Roman, Lapwing; whaled between 1835-1859
Scrimshaw -Journal entries of his own and his shipmates reveal that he made scrimshaw, but none has come to light.
*Joseph C. Little - whaling captain of ship Marengo, whaled between 1836-1871
Scrimshaw - Pie crimper with a wooden handle and whale ivory jagging wheel; whale ivory butter mold, inscribed backwards "ELIZA D. LITTLE" (his wife)
* Peleg Sanford - whaling captain of ships Herald, Mercator; whaled between 1828-1850
Scrimshaw - attributed to Peleg and kinsman Wm. P. Sanford: canes, fids, sperm whale teeth, double-cage swift (yarn winder) with beautifully crafted slats fastened with handmade brass rivets
* Alexander Augustus Tripp - Westport whaling master, whaled between 1840-1884
Scrimshaw - As master of New Bedford bark Globe during 1869-1872, reported as having made coconut-shell dippers but none have been found.
* Benjamin D. Gifford - Westport whaling master of ships Mattapoissett, Dr. Franklin; whaled between 1839-1879
Scrimshaw - coconut-shell dipper bearing the names of his father and mother, Captain Humphrey A. Gifford and Phebe Davis Gifford
* Charles Williams Chace - Westport whaleman, whaled between 1853-1870
Scrimshaw - Coconut-shell dipper inscribed "Present to Ruth M. Chace" (his wife)
*George L. Manchester - Westport whaling master of ships Mattapoissett, George and Mary, Kate Cory; whaled between 1842-1859
Scrimshaw - As captain of the George & Mary during 1852-54, cut out a cardboard template for a pie crimper (jagging wheel), found in his journal.
*Albert Augustus Gifford - Westport whaleman, whaled between 1842-1857
Scrimshaw - Pair of monochrome-engraved teeth with standing female portraits and spreadeagles and patriotic vignettes; canes, pie crimpers, letter seals, folding knife, double cage swift
*David Green Mosher - Westport whaleman, whaled between 1845-1863
SCRIMSHAW - at least three pictorial sperm whale teeth with unique Bible-era scenes of Pharaohic Egyptian figures
*Andrew A. Corey [Cory] - merchant sea captain of ships Hastings, Frederick Roesser, Richard W. Clark
Scrimshaw -at least two inlaid cribbage-board boxes, one decorated with horseshoes and the suits of cards, the other with geometrical figures and a name (spelled Corey)
*Charles F. Smith - whaleman, whaled between 1846-1861
Scrimshaw - whale ivory and bone double-cage swift with an octagonal wooden base that has a spool rack and drawers for storage
*Frederick H. Tripp ö whaling master, whaled between 1859-1888
Scrimshaw - probably made scrimshaw throughout his 30-year whaling career, and certainly as captain of the New Bedford bark Palmetto during 1880-1884. None have been found.
*Frederick H. Lawrence - whaleman
Scrimshaw - Mentions scrimshaw in his journal on his one and only voyage, as a green hand in the New Bedford ship Gazelle in 1865
*Charles E. Reed - whaleman, whaled between 1866-88
Scrimshaw - sewing box with compass rose inlaid with whale ivory, mother of pearl, tortoise shell; pair of whale ivory bracelets; serpent walking stick.
By Paul Tamburello
shorelines@eastbaynewspapers.com
Read story at
http://www.eastbayri.com/print/346160875463370.php
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