Is Scrimshaw with picture of a ship on it considered art

I found a The Four Winds scrimshaw kit from like 1950s or 1960s and among other things inside the box is a real sperm whale tooth with a drawn ship on it. Is it considered art to be placed under this topic forum and is it permissible for me to take pictures and ask questions about it? Thank you.
Rob

 

I vote yeah, Rob. Seems like a logical fit to me.

Debora

 

The rules for even possessing the tooth is questionable,the laws are more restrictive that elephant ivory........... https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/letter-determination-protected-species-parts-and-products

 

Is this what you have?

Debora

 

Yes, that is it. I will take pictures. My dad probably put a ship on the side of the scrimshaw. The silver fish got to the story of scrimshaw and to the instructions. Being real, any idea of worth of a real sperm whale tooth scrimshaw? Thank you. Rob

 

Did you read the link in post #3?

 

I read over it. Thank you for the website. Rob

 

Rob, did you READ the government permit letter that Hollyblue linked to? Chances are you can't sell it if it is real.

 

There are a number of Sold listings for scrimshaw items on eBay. It appears to be widely sought after.

Debora

 

Search on eBay: sperm whale tooth scrimshaw, US only, sold - you will find 39 items. THIRTY-EIGHT of them say, in the title: repro/reproduction/replica/resin/or faux.

Rob claims his is a real sperm whale tooth.

 

I did research on ebay and did notice majority are fakes and I remember seeing one
that was real but was sold from Russia to US I think. That made me wonder if ebay allowed real sperm whale tooth sales on its website. I started to wonder if it was illegal to sale it.

 

Did you notice whether or not they were real or fake? I searched worthpoint and found a couple just like the one that I have that sold I believe on ebay but since I am not a member of worthpoint I have no clue the price range of them. i saw on ebay a real scrimshaw that went for close to a couple hundred dollars I think that sold from Russia to US.
Rob

 

Yes, I read it. Sound like I would have to get background information on the one that I have and fill out a form and they would either accept or reject but if I would get accepted then they would send me a letter which would allow me to have it and then to sell it. I can't remember but I thought it said that if I receive letter that the letter would go with the animal part in this case sperm whale tooth. I think it is from the 1960s when reading about ones I found on worthpoint

 

yes

 

Here's another one that recently sold. Price not available (to me.) But interesting that only Massachusetts residents could purchase and no out-of-state shipping.

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-...om-the-four-winds-on-nantuc-807-c-fe2d9fd58d#

Debora

 

As I understand it, as a MA resident I can buy a piece of marine mammal ivory or bone, like the sperm whale tooth, that is for sale in MA. I could not buy it if I were in another state.

I don't know what other state's laws are, I also don't know how the law applies to a visitor to MA. If I were from NJ and walked into a shop or show in MA, I don't know if I would have have proof of residency to buy it. It's an interesting question, I think I may know who to ask, if anyone is interested I can post what I find out

 

Google search for "four winds scrimshaw kit" gives quite a number of results, and most of the kits seem to say it is a real whale tooth. Hard to say from the photos, but if the kit dates from the 1960s as most of the listings indicate, I recall that at that time sperm whale teeth were both legal, and much more common than they are today.
They were common enough that, just as an example, a commercial company was able to make and sell cheese slicers with genuine sperm whale tooth handles, selling them at the Bon Marche in Seattle in the 60s and 70s.
But that is a long and different story. But they indeed had a large enough supply that it was commercially viable to use genuine teeth.