Antique Scrimshaw Whale Tooth - By: Eric

I'd like to write about a favorite whale tooth of mine done by
the famous, "more modern" scrimshander William Perry. Perry was
born in Oakland, CA in 1894 be live it or not, but his father was
a New Bedford whaler during the 19th century. William Perry would
shortly thereafter move with his family back to New Bedford
where he would end up spending most of his life. During his time
in New Bedford, he would serve not only as a scrimshaw artist,
but even as a tattoo artist at one point. His works show that
there was even a desire and market for scrimshaw during the
early 20th century. Perry would sell his artwork or have others
commission specific teeth for him to create. Most of his works
included very large whale teeth as shown. Some believe this was
due to wealthy businessman or politicians having been able to
afford large teeth which were then given to Perry for him to
scrim. Perry completed about 1,000 works on scrimshaw teeth
before his death.

This tooth is exceptionally large, one of the biggest I've seen.
It's measurements are 10.5 inches by 3.5 inches. Obverse of
tooth pictures the whaling ship "Kutufsoff" presumably in New
Bedford Bay, the city where the ship was built in 1834. A myriad
of homes and stores can be seen in the foreground of the bay.

The ship is anchored and it's sails are down. The vessel is
flying a flag labeled "H" on it's front mast signaling that the
ship has a pilot on board. There is a also a United States flag
off the stern. Five whalemen are seen returning to the ship
possibly after stocking up on supplies before heading back out
to sea. Two other whale ships are pictured docked in the harbor
along with a schooner and two sailboats traveling through the
bay.

Reverse of tooth is well polished with no etchings present.
The letter "W" can be found on the left side of the tooth above
the New Bedford cottages along with two letters "P" on the
contralateral side. Perry traditionally signed his pieces with
the letters "W" and "P" in discrete locations, but this piece
uniquely has two letter "P's". Condition: This tooth has five
minor age cracks all on the reverse and one chip at the base of
the obverse. Nice mellow yellow patina with engraving preserved
excellently.

References: 1. Dow, George Francis and John Robinson, "Sailing
Ships of New England", New York, NY: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
2. Lund, N. Judith, "A Former Curator Looks at the Preservers of
the Scrimshaw Tradition", Dartmouth, MA: Antiques and the Arts,
July 18, 2000.

I'd like to write about a favorite whale tooth of mine done by
the famous, "more modern" scrimshander William Perry. Perry was
born in Oakland, CA in 1894 belive it or not, but his father was
a New Beford whaler during the 19th century.

I am a collector of antique scrimshaw whale teeth, pie crimpers,
canes, swifts, and whaling logs and enjoy sharing these forms of
American art with others. The tooth can be seen on the first page of my website and the tooth is titled "William Perry tooth." My website is: http://www.antiquescrimshawtooth.com