Humans aren’t the only ones who interact/intra-act with dead whales and their parts.
Whale fall is the term given to the complex ecosystem that develops when a dead whale body sinks to the sea floor at depths of 6600 feet or more. Whale falls are…
The Franks Casket is a small whalebone casket (9” l x 5” h x 7” d) carved with scenes taken from Christian lore and Roman and Germanic mythology. Running around the front panel is an alliterating runic inscription that most scholars describe as a…
A dead cetacean not only provided food and fuel for medieval people, but bones and teeth could be fashioned into useful and decorative objects—even the ribs could be used as beams for houses.
For the past year, in anticipation of this session, I’ve been collecting random examples of decorative ivory (including elephant ivory) and whale parts. Here’s where I’ve taken photographs:
• American Museum of Natural History, New York: exhibit,…
Another June day on the Vineyard, I walked into an antique shop in Menemsha and was immediately drawn to two carved whale’s teeth in the shape of penguins. I bought them.
According to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, antique teeth can be…
However, after conservator Shan Kuang took a scalpel to the painting (its varnish was terribly yellowed), the reason for the beachcomber’s interest was revealed. A stranded whale.
Why cover it up? Kuang, who thinks the whale was painted over in…