The Value of Scrimshaw Soars Remember me when far away From thee
on the stormy sea. For whatever course I'm steering My heart
still points to thee. And so the inscription reads on a
scrimshaw box made by a whaleman for his wife in the 1830s.
Whalemen decorated busks for their sweetheart’s bodice, carved
and decorated pie crimpers, inspired by vision of homemade pies,
and engraved sperm whale teeth with whatever captured their
imagination. Scrimshaw became the pastime of lonely and often
dispirited seamen far from home. Today, it’s highly prized by
collectors, who often must pay exorbitant prices for period
pieces. Though scrimshaw is one of America’s earliest folk arts,
the origin of the name lies in controversy. Some believe it came
from "scrimp," to economize, and "shaw," to sand or saw. Others
believe the word itself comes from British slang,
"scrimshanker," meaning a time waster. To the contrary,
scrimshanding was a productive use of a whaleman’s time.
Originally, it referred to the production of sailors'