"The hope of return is the joy of the tar"

tooth

SCRIMSHAW & ALLIED ARTS - TEETH
marad; scrimshaw
Wardwell
USA, RI
ivory
Overall: 7 x 2 x 3 in.

Sperm whale tooth by scrimshander Spencer Pratt. Front side shows whaleship portrait in a circular frame with floral and leafy ornaments and a motto in two ribbons, "When far away / remember me"; male and female deer in vernal setting; surmounted by a smaller version of the patriotic eagle-and-fouled-anchor device. Opposite side shows a very heavily rigged lateen slop in a circular frame with floral and leafy ornaments and the motto in two ribbons, "The hope of return / is the joy of the tar"; inscribed below in a cursive hand, "Oh! tell me wilt thou ever, / When my barque is on the sea, / Breathe a prayer for him who never / Can cease to think of thee." Surmounted by a device of Britannia with British lion ("leopard") and shield.

UNIDENTIFIED whaling ship
1983.98