American Art Collaborative

Although formerly thought to have been carved by a sailor on a New Bedford whaler, this whale-tooth ornament falls outside the traditions of New England scrimshaw. The sculptor has treated the subject with remarkable realism, thus permitting ornithologists to identify the model as a bald eagle. The only inaccuracy in the rendition is the nostrils, which would open through the beak rather than through the cere, the soft tissue at the base of the bill. Labeled: "162;" remnants of a paper label marked: "G III."