Scrimshaw - A Folk Art Originated by American Whalers

150-years ago, life aboard a whaling ship was describes as months of boring idleness, occasionally interrupted by a few hours of terror and back-breaking work.

To fill those idle hours, whalers took to using sail needles and jack knives to scribe patterns and copied artwork into whale teeth, then rubbing ink into the etched lines to create scrimshaw.

I am interested in chatting about collecting authentic, antique scrimshaw.

Douglass Moody
Worthologist

That's really interesting Douglas, I had no idea of the term "scrimshaw". Do you have any example pictures of scrimshaw artwork?

Here are twenty (20) articles about scrimshaw that I have authored for WorthPoint.

When I was a little girl, I was given a little scrimshaw and silver ring for a special gift. I had no idea what scrimshaw was until then. The ring is still a very special treasure in my jewelry box, some 35 years onward.