Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Scrimshaw Pan Bone, 'The Kent Whaling in the Soulou Sea' |
Place of Origin |
Unknown |
Artist or Maker |
Unknown |
Date |
c.1820-1856 |
Materials |
Whalebone |
Dimension Details |
Height: 6 7/8" Width: 15 3/4" |
Description |
This detailed whaling scene is depicted in scrimshaw on a panbone, a flat section from the back of a sperm whale's jaw. It shows the British whaling ship "Kent" under full sail with four of its manned boats engaging eight whales in the foreground, and a mountainous shorleline in the right background. The title "The Kent Whaling in the Soulou Sea" is inscribed at the bottom. British whalers hunted extensively in the waters of the East Indies, and the "Kent" was known to be one of the vessels that carried author Thomas Beale (1807-1849), who catalogued the anatomy, physiology, and habits of sperm whales. His writings were a source for Herman Melville's (1819-1891) "Moby Dick," published in 1851. |
Provenance |
Richard A. Bourne Co., Inc, Hyannis, Massachusetts, August 18, 1971, Lot 391 Purchased by The Dietrich American Foundation (Horace Gordon, Villanova, Pennsylvania, agent), 1971 |
Object Name |
Picture, Scrimshaw |
Object ID |
1.2.963 |
Search Terms |
whaling |