Schooner Era

Mediumwalrus ivory

Dimensions2 1/8 × 20 1/4 in. (5.4 × 51.4 cm)

Donor credit lineKendall Whaling Museum Collection Transfer

Object number2001.100.2074

Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum

DescriptionWalrus tusk carved in low relief, one side only: Victorian floral decorations and broadside portrait of a square-topsail schooner, inscribed in bold relief-carved letters "ERA" and "1895". Verso: polished, undecorated. Made by Captain George Comer to commemorate his appointment as master of the New Bedford whaling schooner Era in 1895.

Other woks by George Comer, see: S-1731 (2001.100.2075) and S-1732 (2001.100.2076) are replicas of Netsilik Inuit () snow knives; S-1850 (2001.100.2238) is a relief-carved tusk analogous to the present specimen and a rightful companion piece (though not a pair).

Refs: S.M. Frank, Dict. Scrim. Artists, 1991, pp. 35-37 (illus. opp. p. 36); F. Calabretta, "Capt. George Comer and the Arctic," The Log of Mystic Seaport, 35:4 (Winter 1984), pp. 118-131; S.M. Frank, Captain George Comer's Scrimshaw," KWM Newsletter, 8:2 (Summer 1990), pp. 6-9. The Kendall Collection, NBWM, and Mystic Seaport have very large holdings of Comer-related materials, qq.v.ProvenanceScott Dunn, Sharon, Mass., 06/30/1990, $2,400.00.

On View

On view