19th Century Scrimshaw Whale Tooth with Ship, Fish and More!

19th Century Scrimshaw Whale Tooth with Ship, Fish and More! A sailor’s scrimshaw sperm whale tooth (Physeter macrocephalon), circa 1850, with well done hand engraved image of a Ship flying American Flag, above a Fish, signed with the intial “T” at the top; the reverse having a Pronghorn Antelope leaping in a landscape; hiding at the tip of the tooth is a wild image of a Sailor’s Face; there is a second fish along one edge and a strong wrap-around border at the base. This is a very well executed tooth with surprises. At a guess this could well have been done by a sailor who deserted his whaling ship to join the ’49ers (thus that very unusual image of a Pronghorn Antelope in a high desert landscape that could be met in the Northern California mountain gold fields).

The tooth remains in very good condition with one short crack and some chips along the open bottom.

This piece of antique sailor’s folk art is engraved on a tooth from a sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), is well over 100 years old, and is in full compliance with federal law as specified in the Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972), Endangered Species Act (1973), and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Director’s Order No. 210 (as amended 2014).

Measures: 4-3/4 in L