tooth

One of a pair of sperm whale teeth; other 57.711. Etched on one side in red and black, an obelisk surmounted by spread eagle holding olive branch and arrows, US shield in front, ribbon in mouth, on base of obelisk clock reading 1:58, 3 steps below base, 3 US flags on both sides of obelisk; etched on other side port stern view of 3-masted ship, base chipped.
The Bunker Hill Monument, a 221-foot (67.4m) granite obelisk on Breeds Hill in Charlestown (Boston), site of the first battle of the American Revolution on June 17, 1775, is here symbolically festooned with flags for the dedication ceremony, June 17, 1843, the 68th anniversary of the battle. The cornerstone had been laid by the Marquis de Lafayette, with an oration by Daniel Webster, on June 17, 1825 (the 50th anniversary of the battle), the monument was completed in 1842, and there are several known scrimshaw renderings that represent the festooning with flags that, like this one, symbolize the occasion without actually presenting a verisimilitudinous picture. See NBWM 2001.100.163; q.v. in Stuart M. Frank's "Ingenious Contrivances," 2012, Fig. 6:27.