Scrimshaw

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The whale tooth shows the whaling ship Ann of London . The piece was made in 1829 by Frederick Myrick from Nantucket (USA), a famous scrimshaw artist.

Scrimshaw is a miniature scratching and engraving technique in animal materials such as ivory , horn or bone . In some cases, plastics are also used.

The term scrimshaw comes from the era of whalers , who in the 18th and 19th centuries spent their free time decorating whale bones and teeth while traveling and also at home. They "scrimmten" preferably on the teeth of the sperm whale , which were incurred as a waste product during whaling. Most of the work on sperm whale teeth and whale bones was done by North American whalers. The tusks of walruses were also often decorated with scrimshaw.

To produce a scrimshaw, the surface to be processed is first polished to a mirror-like finish. The motif is then scraped into this with a fine, needle-sharp tool, i.e. scratched or very finely dotted. This involves working under a magnifying glass or a microscope. To make the motif visible, the entire surface is rubbed with paint after scrimming and then wiped off again. The paint adheres to the areas where the surface of the material has been processed. Usually several passes are necessary, the exact number depends on the hardness of the material and the experience of the artist.

Today, walrus tusks and whale teeth are rarely used more frequently fossil comes mammoth ivory is used, which in Siberia and Alaska is found and freely available commercially. Depending on the regulations of individual countries, elephant ivory from old stocks registered with CITES papers is also scraped. Antlers, bones, horns or Micarta and Corian (plastics) can also be used.

Wherever whales were previously caught, you can still admire valuable, ancient scrimshaw work in museums today. John F. Kennedy as a famous scrimshaw collector made this art even more popular. The finest scrimshaw work can often be found on handcrafted, valuable collector's knives, where the handle scales are made of one of the materials mentioned above. Motifs from seafaring are still popular in the maritime scene. Belt buckles, pistol grips, billiard cues and pieces of jewelry are also adorned with scrimshaw. In the USA in particular, good scrimshaw works by well-known scrimshaw artists such as Frederick Myrick (1808–1862) have now become coveted collector's items and are traded at prices of $ 50,000.

However, attempts are also made to deceive inexperienced buyers with fake “antique” scrimshaw work. New objects are also provided with printing techniques in the scrismhaw style and sold as “decorated with a scrimshaw motif” or similar misleading terms as real scrimshaw.

A very well-known scrimshaw museum is run by the owner of the legendary sailors' pub Peter's Sport Café in Horta on Faial / Azores .

literature

  • Halat, Eva: Modern Scrimshaw. History, instructions, large part of the gallery . Ludwigshafen: Verlag Angelika Hörnig 2003, 224 pp.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ NDR.de: "Scrimshaw" in Brake - handicrafts of the whalers (Frank Jakobs) , accessed on June 23, 2016
  2. ↑ Hyland Granby Antiques-Frederick Myrick: Susan's Tooth Signed and Dated August 28, 1829 , English, accessed June 23, 2016

Web links

Commons : Scrimshaw  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files