Baleen ditty box

DateCirca 1860

Mediumbaleen, wood, metal

Dimensions3 1/8 × 5 7/8 × 4 3/8 in. (7.9 × 14.9 × 11.1 cm)

Object number1974.10.1

Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum

DescriptionMahogany top and bottom; plain baleen skirt with heart- or spade-shaped rat-tail joint. Baleen sides incised with a starboard bow-quarter view of a full-rigged ship under sail; tree; obelisk monolith with stipple-engraved initials"JCT"; tree; starboard bow-quarter view of a bark under sail; four heart- or spade-shaped rat-tail lap joints; metal fastenings.

Ref: S.M. Frank, Dict. Scrim. Artists, 1991, p. 137 (but see Provenance).Exhibition History"Whaling: A Cultural Crossroads, A Traveling Exhibit Presented by the New Bedford Whaling Museum" (Custom House Maritime Museum, New London, CT, October 7 - November 6, 2011)ProvenanceThe provenance in the original ODHS accession records is mistaken in indicating that the box was made on board the New Bedford bark John P. West by James Chapman Tinker of Groton, Connecticut: his name does not appear in the N.B. Port Society crew lists OR the NBFPL whalemen's index for any voyage of the John P. West, including the 1858-63 and 1863-68 voyages commanded by his presumed kinsman Daniel G. Tinker, Jr., of New London. Also, the James Tinker (born 1827) of New London, identified in the files as the maker, is NOT the right man; James Chapman Tinker (born circa 1842), mariner of Groton, Connecticut, was at sea by 1860 (1860 U.S. Census, Groton, New London Co., Connecticut, "Register of Seamen"), and is certainly the man indicated in the provenance, whether or not he actually made the scrimshaw. His parentage, birthplace, and actual voyages are unknown. The reference in S.M. Frank, Dict. Scrim. Artists, 1991, p. 137, perpetuates the error from the original ODHS files.

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