at the New Bedford Whaling Museum (2009)
by
Douglass Moody
THURSDAY/FRIDAY
I flew from L.A. to the east coast on Thursday, June 14. I stayed at a New Bedford Bed & Breakfast, which was built in 1908, just a mile from the museum. I checked into the museum at 9 a.m. on Friday, bringing my antique scrimshawed sea turtle shell, my "Massacre At Fort Pillow" scrimshawed whale tooth, my "Roscius" scrimshawed whale tooth, and two scrimshawed panbone busks. Two large display cases were set-up on the main floor of the museum, just for scrimshaw items brought by weekend attendees.
I viewed the museum's several floors of exhibits for my first time that morning, along with a few other first time attending collectors. After lunch, Chief Curator Stuart Frank, PhD, presented an introductory program in the museum's modern theater, entitled "Scrimshaw 101". This course is offered every year, and is open to the public as well as seminar participants. Never having attended formal scrimshaw lectures, I was quite pleased to take notes during this narrated PowerPoint presentation.
The literature in the Weekend folder included a sheet of silhouettes & descriptions of the "Standard Whaleship Rig Types of the 19th Century". Other included papers are entitled "Whaling - An Introductory Bibliography", "Whaling Research - Introductory Bibliography", and "Scrimshaw - An Annotated Bibliography".
A few hours were allowed for attendees to have dinner at any of several good restaurants within walking distance of the museum.
The opening address at 8 p.m. Friday evening was by Ray Egan, of from Boothbay Maine, entitled "Discipline in Collecting: What I Have Learned During Forty Years of Collecting Folk Art". An informal reception followed on the main floor of the museum.
SATURDAY
Saturday morning started at 9 a.m. with formal registration. Final attendance was fifty-six (56) collectors, dealers, & experts. Collectors continued to place several high-end scrimshawed whale teeth under glass, including a few by the "Banknote Engraver", and a previously unknown "Susan Tooth" by Frederick Myrick, which was brought into the museum just a few days before the seminar. Unfortunately, at some point in previous years, someone attempted to re-ink the flags on the tip of tooth, resulting in a smeared, muddy result. During the opening hour of coffee & muffins, there was much discussion about the collector's teeth on display, including my sea turtle shell, because it now appears to be unique. I always suspected that it was rare (one of just a few), but Stuart Frank and other experts claim that no other scrimshawed sea turtle shell is known within the U.S. My shell was purchased at auction in London, England, in 2005, so other English examples may exist.
At 10:15 a.m., the first presentation was by Michael Gerstein, scrimshaw historian of Lincoln, MA. His subject, "This Time It's Teeth: New Attributions to N.S. Finney", showed several scrimshawed whale teeth which can now be attributed to the legendary walrus tusk scrimshander. Photographic comparisons of design embellishments, scrimstyle, subject matter, etc., definitely identify several scrimshawed whale teeth as scribed by Finney. With this ongoing study, more teeth in well-known collections, will be identified as Finney's.
At 11 a.m., Judith Lund, former Chief Curator, and now Advisory Curator to the NBWM, presented "The 20th Century New Bedford School of Latter-Day Scrimshaw Artists", which discussed William Perry and other contemporary scrimshanders.
At 11:45, Marry Malloy, PhD (of Harvard University & wife of Stuart Frank), presented a short talk entitled "Marius Barbeau and the Scrimshaw Mistake", which dealt with the supposed relationship between Argillite carvings by the Haida tribe, and scrimshaw.
Following a buffet lunch on the main floor of the museum, at 1:30 p.m., NBWM President & CEO James Russell, and James Garfield, Trustee Chairman, made a few remarks.
At 1:45 p.m., Doctor Stuart Frank narrated PowerPoint presentations entitled "Scrimshaw of Maine", and "Scrimshaw of Rhode Island".
At 2:45 p.m., Richard Donnelly presented a PowerPoint history of the "Scrimshaw in the Warren (RI) Historical Society", which we will view on tomorrow's field trip.
At 3:45 p.m., Andrew Jacobson, a marine antiques dealer of Ipswich MA, presented "Observations on the Scrimshaw Market in a Depressed Economy". He basically said that values of collectibles may go up, or may go done. Hard to tell, at this time.
At 4:30 p.m., expert scrimshaw collector Tom Conley (retired airline pilot) of Huntley IL, presented his personal & humorous "Conley's Rules for the Identification of Scrimshaw".
At 5:30 p.m., Tony Dumitru, Collections Manager at the Nantucket Historical Association, and Nina Hellman, of Nina Hellman Marine Antiques and Trustee of the NHA, presided over a Memorial for Paul Madden, who we lost earlier this year. There will never be another expert like Paul.
At 6 p.m., a video entitled Scrimshaw Tour of the Azores (2007) by Kathy Mierzwa was shown in the theater. At the same time, most attendees were in the foyer, visiting and telling stories about Paul Madden.
At 7:30 p.m., a formal dinner was served in the main room of the museum.
At 8 p.m., the evening program was presented by Nina Hellman, entitled "Scrimshaw at the South Street Seaport Museum". NYC has a nice collection of antique scrimshaw.
Immediately following, most of the attendees posed in the lecture hall for a group photograph:
