How to Distinguish Authentic Scrimshaw from Fakeshaw

How to Distinguish Authentic Whale Tooth Scrimshaw from Resin "Fakeshaw" (Part 1 of 3)

The 1970s saw the implementation of the U.S. Federal Marine Mammals Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA), and the U.S. Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (FESA), each regulating the importation, the exportation, & the sale of marine animal products across State lines. Then, in 1975, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) went into effect, regulating international commerce of whale & walrus products, as well as other species.

About this time, several companies making plastic products, made mold-copies of scores of authentic whale teeth, walrus tusks, and panbone (whale jawbone) antique scrimshaws. The original scrimshaws copied can still be found in whaling museums and private collections. A few modern artistic scrimshaws were also copied. These plaster molds were duplicated by the hundreds, and soon, thousands of mold-poured resin reproductions were being marketed. Most of these "repros" were artificially tinted to resemble the natural age patina of the originals, and the confusion began!

Luckily, in 1988, Doctor Stuart M. Frank (now the Chief Curator of the Kendall Collection at the New Bedford Whaling Museum), published a "monogram" entitled Fakeshaw: A Checklist of Plastic "Scrimshaw". This is an alphabetical listing of more than 300 documented, machine-manufactured polymer copies. The current THIRD EDITION (below left), was published in 2001.

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