Scrimshaw Whale Tooth “Ship Wiscasset Richard Macy Master on the coast of New Zealand April 1836,” the verso engraved with a speaking porpoise “A Porpoise you see In this likeness of me.” The ship Wiscasset commanded by Captain Richard Macy (1797-1850) hailed from Nantucket, and manned by men from the Wiscasset area in Maine. The piece commemorates the ship’s 1834-1837 voyage to go deep-sea whaling in the Pacific and the successful capture of a large sperm whale off the coast of New Zealand in April 1836. The details are beautiful including the intricate rigging, the men stationed at the lookouts on three masts and the humorous depiction of a porpoise on the verso.
