Sperm Whale Tooth Prepared for Scrimshaw, 19th Century

Unknown artist

This is an example of a whales tooth prepared for the art of scrimshaw. When a tooth is removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale, its surface is rough and discolored, with ridges of varying depth along its lengtht. To prepare the tooth the artist scraped and sanded the surface until it was smooth—sometimes using sharkskin, which was strong and abrasive. A knife blade or other sharp instrument was used to engrave the picture into the tooth.