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- Detailed Record
- Title:
- Walrus Tusk - Scrimshaw
- Date/Period:
- 1800-1930
- Museum link:
- Maritime Museum
<P>The sailor who decorated this tusk must have loved his Queen and country. It depicts many patriotic images including the British flag, the Prince of Walesâ feathers and a crown. The âVRâ initials stand for âVictoria Reginaâ. This means âQueen Victoriaâ in Latin, and shows the tusk to be Victorian.</P> <P>Two other mottos are on the tusk. One is 'Ich dien' which means âI serveâ. The other is âIN HOC SIGNO VINCESâ which means âIn this sign I conquerâ.</P> <P>The patriotic images on this tusk include the Union flag, the Prince of Walesâ feathers, a crown and crossed swords. Also depicted is a sailor with the Union flag, thistles, a star and garter and chain shot.</P> <P>The motto âIN HOC SIGNO VINCESâ (In this sign I conquer) was the motto of Constantine, the first Christian Emperor of Rome.</P> <P>Walruses are famous for their tusks and these can grow up to one metre in length. Males tend to have larger tusks than females. Walruses inhabit the ice-floes in the shallower waters of the Arctic. Whalers working in the Arctic often had contact with native people. This offered opportunities to trade and gain walrus tusks to work on.</P> <P>Scrimshaw like this tusk is the folk art of the whaler. This is usually made with whalebone, teeth or baleen. It can also be made out of walrus tusks like this piece.</P> <P>The origin of the term âscrimshawâ is not clear and is discussed a lot. In parts of England it was used early on to describe past-times and recreations. When a captain ordered his crew to be âscrimshanderingâ, he wanted them to be pre-occupied with a creative past-time.</P> <P>Scrimshaw identified with the Hull whaling trade is extremely rare, and occasionally fake. The British trade in whale oil and bone centred around Hull in the early 1600s and the early 1700s. Most surviving scrimshaw is from after these periods.</P>
