A Superb English Sailors Scrimshaw Carved Walrus Tusk and Whalebone Architectural Walking Cane

Period: 1800-1900

Origin: Anglo American

Medium: silver, Whalebone, Whaletooth, Tortoisehell, Walrus tusk

Literature: An exceptionally fine example of sailors scrimshaw, this walking cane proves that the ingenuity of the whale man artisan who made it was amazing, but his work was never hurried as time was his most expendable commodity. It was in his choice of design as well as object that the whale men evolved an art peculiar to his trade and developed scrimshaw as a special sort of folk art. His carved objects were the trophies of a successful hunt to be given as a thoughtful present, or bartered for cash on a quayside.