FIVE AMAZING FACTS ABOUT THE CRAFT OF SCRIMSHAW
“Thar she blows!”
Scrimshaw, the craft of meticulous line carving on the surface of bone or ivory (with the impression filled in with pigment for visibility), was originally done by seamen on whaling vessels, who not only did not want to waste any part of the whale (including the baleen) but also needed a way to pass the time on extended sea voyages.
Your dentist’s second career?
Modern-day scrimshaw artists use tools that are finer and offer better control than the traditional sailors’ needles, many of said tools being borrowed from the broad inventory of dental drills and picks.
“Do I get a certificate of authenticity?”
As you can imagine, 20th-century laws protecting whales and another old-time popular source of scrimshaw ivory, elephants, force much of the craft’s existing samples into the realm of contraband.
A fragile medium
Since ivory teeth are prone to drying out, scrimshander Gary Kiracofe of Nantucket has long advised collectors to fill a dry tooth’s hollow part with baby oil and let it sit to absorb into the microscopic pores, from the inside.
Take a very close look
Today’s scrimshanders often use technology that makes their pieces more easily mass-produced, going against the philosophy of many purist crafters who feel that a scrimshaw piece’s uniqueness is one of its main draws.
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In March, it’s the end of winter and a great time to blossom outward into National Crafting Month to show what you’ve been making by hand during the short, cold days of the season past.
Admittedly, the word “crafting” covers a whole lot of territory. At one time, the word “craft” was synonymous with “trade,” meaning skilled labor in a particular area, such as weaving, engine repair, carpentry, etc. It was not uncommon for guilds to be founded based upon a shared set of skills in these and other areas of production. But in current times we’ve come to understand that “crafting” refers to those skills practiced more creatively and with a vision unique to each artisan. Some examples are knitting and crocheting, scrapbooking, leatherworking, wood burning, fly tying, jewelry making, anything created by hand that has an artistic aspect to it but is not strictly “fine art.”
So this month, if you’ve been too busy to focus on your favorite craft, set aside some time and energy and see what you can come up with. You may even want to devote a number of hours to dabbling in a craft other than your favorite.
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