Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Whale Tooth with Whaling Scene |
Place of Origin |
Unknown |
Artist or Maker |
Roderick, William Lewis (b. circa1824-27) |
Date |
1847-1856 |
Materials |
Whale Ivory |
Dimension Details |
Width: 2 1/16" Length: 6 3/4" |
Description |
This detailed and carefully composed whaling scene shows two ships and three boats attacking two sperm whales, one of which is fighting upside down. The scene, worked in red and black and bracketed by three vertical lines on either side, is signed W.L. Roderick on the left. Roderick was a Welsh physician who served as ship's surgeon on three South Seas whaling voyages aboard the London-registered bark "Adventure" between 1847-1856. His engraved whales' teeth and whalebone plaques are considered to be among the best examples of pictorial scrimshaw. |
Provenance |
Richard A. Bourne Co., Inc. Hyannis, Massachusetts, August 5, 1980, Lot 118 Purchased by The Dietrich American Foundation (Horace Gordon, Villanova, Pennsylvania, agent), 1980 |
Object Name |
Picture, Scrimshaw |
Object ID |
1.2.1197 |
Search Terms |
whaling |