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western scrimshaw

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  • western scrimshaw

    Hello everyone, I am an antique dealer now living in Stevensville, MT. I recently bought 20 boxes from a dealer who had died, sight unseen. Inside I found this whale tooth with a western themed, primitive scrimshaw design. Has anyone ever seen one of these before. I believe it is a wonderful piece of folk art circa 1900 by looking at the clothing. Value??? Thank you for looking.

  • #2
    I forgot to upload photos so here they are.

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    • #3
      That is awesome. Sorry I can't help but some one will be along shortly with some info. Welcome to the forum
      east Tx.

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      • #4
        Welcome to the forum.


        Well, western-themed scrimshaw does exist, but very infrequently on whale teeth. More usually it’s on cow horn and often done by “drifters” who learned the craft on a whaling ship before they turned their hand to cow-poking.

        There is a modern artist called Becky Wilson who engraves western and wildlife scenes on whale teeth, but it’s nothing like the quality of her work and she always signs her pieces. There are also pieces produced by Schrade from 1975 through to the late 1990s with western and “the great American outdoors” themes (initially engraved by Frank Giogianni and then by Tom Duffy). Again, their work is much higher quality and I have never seen a whole tooth from Schrade. They produced things like hunting knife handles and inlays for gunstocks.

        Could we at least see a close up of the base to confirm that it is actually a whale tooth rather than a resin replica?

        It looks to be a sperm whale tooth, which does create some issues if it’s genuine (see important note below). As you probably know, even an unengraved tooth collected pre-ban would have substantial value. Whatever additional value it might have above and beyond that rests on its unusual nature rather than the quality of the artwork, which is pretty poor. What collectors really want are quality pieces with a whaling theme or an identifiable sailing vessel…ideally with a date and better still with a signature.



        Important Note ( and caveat that this may not be completely up to date, or reflect variations in individual state laws):

        The sale of whale teeth and bone are tightly restricted under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Any sale or offer to sell whale teeth or bone falling within the act carries a $12,000 fine (per instance) - and possible imprisonment. The legal sale of sperm whale teeth falls into the following three categories:

        1) Antique: any tooth that has been determined to be 100 years old or older, dating back from 1972 (ie 1872 or older). This ivory is legal to buy and sell across state lines in any form. If you purchase an antique or pre-ban whale tooth, you should expect that the seller will include a Certificate of Exemption for the tooth and/or a Certification of Subsequent Seller/Shipper/Exporter. These required federal forms prove that the tooth has been certified as legal for resale and meets the requirements for resale in the U.S.

        2) Pre-Act Teeth: those that date from 1872 to 1972 and are covered by a U.S. Government exemption certificate. These teeth are legal to buy and sell if they are accompanied by a U.S. Government exemption certificate, but cannot be shipped across state lines in their raw form (they must be carved, engraved or scrimshawed).

        3) Any other teeth that were in the U.S prior to 1972 but not covered by an exemption certificate: these teeth must at the very least be accompanied by a notarized statement from the seller stating that they were in his/her possession, in the U.S. prior to the 1972 moratorium. These teeth cannot be sent across state lines for commercial resale. Anyone such as a scrimshaw artist may buy these teeth, work on them, and sell them only within his/her state of residence and then only if such purchase and sale is legal under the laws of his/her state.
        I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.

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        • #5
          Welcome aboard AH, horsegirl1960. I've seen lots of scrimshaw work but most was on walrus tusks or the like and had Eskimo hunting themes carved on them. Like Painshill, I'd be interested in seeing the bottom of this piece. My daughter was once going to buy what was purported to be a elephant tusk carving and asked my opinion. I pointed out the legal issues associated with owning tusks and also asked to see the bottom of the carving. It was a resin copy and not worth near what was being asked for it. ...Chuck
          Last edited by Scorpion68; 08-24-2016, 09:18 PM. Reason: forgot welcome statement
          Pickett/Fentress County, Tn - Any day on this side of the grass is a good day. -Chuck-

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          • painshill
            painshill commented
            Editing a comment
            The restrictions generally relate more to sale rather than ownership.

        • #6
          That tooth is a wonderful piece of work. Hopefully it is authentic.
          The chase is better than the catch...
          I'm Frank and I'm from the flatlands of N'Eastern Illinois...

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          • #7
            If you want to know if it's real and not resin, just take a very small piece of paper, about the size of a dime, then rub the tooth on a cotton shirt, and see if it picks up the piece of paper due to static electricity. Real sperm whale teeth, or any type of ivory item, won't conduct static. If it picks up the paper, then it's resin of some sort. After that, if it's a real tooth, it's probably someone's idea of making something artistic out of it. It looks hand engraved, but the value would be really hard to determine. First check and make sure it's not resin or type of plastic.
            http://www.ravensrelics.com/

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            • #8
              Unfortunately, there is no single non-destructive/non-marking test that will determine ivory from its various substitutes. As Paul says, a positive static test (rubbing with silk and using a small piece of tissue paper works best) will eliminate many plastics, but not all modern resins, nor bone/ivory dust that has been compacted with glue, and not other substitutes such as vegetable ivory produced from various palm kernels (although those don’t usually exceed 2-3 inches and couldn’t replicate a large tooth). Also, plastic/resin fakes may be treated to provide both an anti-static coating and an artificial patina.

              The National Fish & Wildlife Forensics Laboratory recommends a three step approach: examination with long wave UV “black” light; examination of physical features/shapes including regularity of grain, presence of pits, cavities, air bubbles etc (not characteristic of real ivory) ; and examination for “Schreger lines” (a crosshatch or v-shaped grain characteristic of ivory).

              Virtually all plastics and resins fluoresce as dull blue or blue/white under long wave UV whereas ivory usually fluoresces bright white, moving to dull yellow or brown as it patinates. Any other brightly coloured fluorescence (such as yellow) generally indicates artificial aging in dung, urine or animal fats. Unfortunately vegetable ivory, bone (including reconstituted bone dust) and glued together ivory dust all react like genuine ivory under black light, so the test has to be used in combination with other visual examination.

              A genuine unengraved sperm whale tooth would probably be worth a few hundred dollars (with valid documentation), pushing from several hundred to a thousand dollars with vintage or antique carving and exceed a thousand dollars if the carving is interesting and well executed. Once you get to contemporary whaling themes, named ships or signed work you’re potentially into the several thousands of dollars.
              I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.

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