I didn't know, either, so when I saw these wonderful engraved products I became curious as to the definition and origin of scrimshaw and decided to look it up.
Here is a portion of what I found ... follow the Wikipedia links to read more on the history of scrimshaw.
"Scrimshaw is the name given to scrollwork, engravings, and carvings done in bone or ivory. Typically it refers to the handiwork created by whalers made from the byproducts of harvesting marine mammals.
The making of scrimshaw began on whaling ships between 1745 to 1759 on the Pacific Ocean, and survived until the ban on commercial whaling. The practice survives as a hobby and as a trade for commercial artisans.
Scrimshaw is being created today still using fossilized ivories, recycled teeth, bones, plastic and more. Some are done by hand and many by laser programed machines."
--Excerpts from Wikipedia
The making of scrimshaw began on whaling ships between 1745 to 1759 on the Pacific Ocean, and survived until the ban on commercial whaling. The practice survives as a hobby and as a trade for commercial artisans.
Scrimshaw is being created today still using fossilized ivories, recycled teeth, bones, plastic and more. Some are done by hand and many by laser programed machines."
--Excerpts from Wikipedia
Running horse on deer antler.
| "While scrimshaw is rarely done on whale bone these days, it is still practiced by a few artists. Common modern materials are micarta, ivory (elephant, fossil, walrus), hippo tusk, warthog ivory, buffalo horn, giraffe bone, mother of pearl, and camel bone. Modern scrimshaw typically retains the nautical themes of historical scrimshaw, but can also go well outside of the traditional." --Excerpts from Wikipedia |
Included here are some beautiful examples of modern day scrimshaw work on Bolo ties and necklaces by Montana artisan, mostlymontanascrim.
Chipmunk on fossilized walrus ivory.
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Gray Jay on ivory.
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Big Horn Sheep on antler.
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