whale teeth
Baleen's bony alternative
Whale teeth are the teeth of whales, though only toothed whales (like sperm whales and orcas) have them—baleen whales filter feed instead.
Historically, whale teeth were prized for scrimshaw, the folk art of carving or engraving designs into ivory.
Sperm whale teeth were particularly valued for this craft among 19th-century whalers.
- ivoryTusk-derived material
- ivory tradeCommerce in elephant tusks
- scrimshawEngraved whale ivory art
- bone carvingSculpture in skeletal material
- tuskExtended external tooth
enamel · jawbone · harpoon · blubber · carving · Moby Dick · cetacean · pod · ocean · deep sea · hunting · Nantucket · Herman Melville · engraved · old salt · walrus · narwhal · orca
- teethincisors, incisor, canine, canines, molar
- maritimeships, ship, boat, boats, anchors
- island souvenirsseashells, shell jewelry, leis, tikis, tiki statues
- curiositiesoddities, curiosities, rarities, wonders, anomalies
- primitive moneycowrie shells, cowries, wampum, cacao beans, cocoa beans