Bone Busk

Mediumwhale skeletal bone

Dimensions2 1/8 × 12 1/4 in. (5.4 × 31.1 cm)

Object number1959.8.22

Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum

DescriptionShallow undulating trifid top and bottom; stippled monochrome. Vignettes: house with three gables; sperm whale and whaleboat with seven crew, oars wrongly deployed; snake (serpent); scythe (held by human or figure of Death in a cape or cowl?), rake, bucket, and unidentified objects; a chicken or turkey; a lizard; the name "JANE" with the J reversed. Not whalemen's work. Possibly an old busk with more recent (incompetent and inaccurate, possibly juvenile) decoration.ProvenanceMartha M. Hinsdale Scrimshaw Collection; Estate of Martha M. Hinsdale, bequeathed 1955.

On View

Not on view