“The President Engaging the ENDYMION, while pursued by the British Squadron”

whale tooth

SCRIMSHAW & ALLIED ARTS - TEETH
marad; scrimshaw
Clift, Hiram
after 1816
ivory
Overall: 7 x 3 5/8 x 2 in.

Scrimshawed whale tooth. One side is port view of ship flying the U.S. flag, with an eagle above, holding shield, arrows and laurel leaves, surrounded by a heart. On the other side, an unfinished engraving of a naval battle scene, including two ships, one flies a U.S. flag, with two square rigged vessels in the background. Naval engagement copied from "The President Engaging the Endymion, while pursued by the British Squadron," after Abel Bowen, 'The Navel Monument (1816), from a painting by Michele Felice Corne (1752-1845). According to donor, made by Captain Hiram Clift of Mystic.
(In Horace Kimball's derivative 'American Naval Battles' (1831), the scene is entitled "Escape of the Constitution from a British Squadron.")

1991.127.6