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The London whaling trade, The Southern Whale Fishery |
| 1 of 3 Pictures |
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| © National Maritime Museum, London |
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| Description: A sperm whale's tooth engraved on one side with a view of a sailor climbing a ship's rigging in a storm, in a squared frame with anchors at the top corners. Inscribed below: “The Sailor Boy/Though the strained mast should quiver as a reed,/And the rent canvas fluttering strew the gale,/Still must I on...Byron”. On the reverse side an engraved portrait of a lady in a low cut dress. Her lips and cheeks engraved in a red stipple. “MISS O'NEILL/IN THE CHARACTER OF BELVIDERA” (the actress Eliza O'Neill, Eliza (1791-1872). These scenes would have been copied from prints probably some time after Miss O’Neill’s retirement from the stage in 1819. This piece of scrimshaw is associated with William Tolley Brookes, commander of the whaler Active in the late 1830’s. |
| Creator: Unknown |
| Date: c. 1830 |
| Credit line: National Maritime Museum | |
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