AHEB’S GIFTS THE ART OF SCRIMSHAW
By Liz (Burnett)Kuhns

Enter Gary Kiracofe's family shop up at Green Gables in Ephraim and you find yourself dreaming of the mysterious yet adventurous allure of the high seas. Your mind is filled with images from the 1700’s, of a white haired Aheb relentlessly chasing his Moby Dick on ships with billowing sails.

Imagine being on board a sailing ship with a crew of whale hunting seamen. Imagine being on a voyage that lasts three years. Most of the time there is much to do navigating wild seas and strong winds, harpooning whales, unfurling sails or scrubbing decks. But every now and then, the wind drops, the days seem to stretch endlessly and no whales are in sight. Home is far away. Loved ones have not been seen for more than a year and slowly a mutinous atmosphere starts brewing on board. At this point the ship’s captain starts handing out the whale teeth, just enough to settle the mood and soon big, burly seamen are carving and engraving nautical scenes that will become delicate gifts for family and friends back home.

Such is the therapeutic nature of the craft called scrimshaw, an effect even Kiracofe can attest to when he recalls the quiet introspective times whilst working.

'This art form may demand discipline, the ability to concentrate and to sit still for a long while, yet it calms the soul. This is why I do not like being interrupted when I work, instead I listen to books and have probably listened to over a 1000 books already. It is wonderful for the mind."

Scrimshaw dates back many centuries with the earliest written references being around 1600 - 1700’s. These were the times of whale hunting with the American whaling history concentrated around the Nantucket and Cape Cod areas. Sailors would return with gifts like pie crimpers, hair combs, brooches, ornaments and much more. These were meticulously carved out of whale bone, sperm whale teeth or assembled from baleen, as in the case of corset stays.

The most famous example of scrimshawed whale teeth are those decorated by the sailors from the ship called "Susan". What is remarkable about these teeth is that they date back to approximately the 1800’s, depict historical information, for instance who the captain was, details of the voyage and the name of the ship. Only the "Susan" did this. No wonder they are referred to as "Susan Teeth" and a complete tooth can easily fetch about $45,000 at Sotheby's.

Today collecting scrimshaw has a strong following throughout the world with famous people, no less important than the late president John Kennedy himself, a keen collector. So keen was his interest, a sperm whale tooth with the presidential seal on the one side and the Kennedy portrait on the other side, was buried with him. Barbara Johnson, heir to the Johnson and Johnson fortune, is another avid collector.

Scrimshaw is a carefully applied art form of minute detail, tried by many but truly mastered only by few, Kiracofe being one of them. Childhood days at Cape Cod and an older brother’s fascination with its history, was what first introduced him to this art.

"I am fortunate that my artistic ability is a natural talent, a God given instinct, that I can draw something exactly the way it looks. I picked up scrimshaw as a hobby at first and soon discovered that it fits what I like to do - detailed realistic work."

Successful scrimshaw is just that, a realistic rendition of the truth, also known as pictorial history. Not only should the work portray a close photo-like of the image, but also an accurate copy of the facts. Take sailing ships for instance. If you are not part of the sailing fraternity, how many sails a ship has will not matter, nor will it make any difference to the appeal of a piece of art. However, should you be a discerning sailor, those sails should be the correct number, in their proper positions and be a true match to the design of the ship. The same with lighthouses and all related nautical scenes, the most common of scrimshaw art.

"There are so many knowledgeable people out there who will immediately pick up a mistake," Kiracofe said. "I do not do any sailing myself and being in a type of nautical art, had to really learn how to draw ships accurately to avoid embarrassment."

Another important aspect of scrimshaw is how small an artist can go with his drawing and still be accurate. Kiracofe has achieved an amazing feat by scrimshawing a sailing ship on a disc a quarter the size of an aspirin. These discs go on top of small 24ct gold Nantucket baskets, the size of a nickle, making interesting pendants or brooches. The price may be daunting until you realize that size is not a substitute for quality. In fact, in the world of scrimshaw collecting, the smaller and better executed the piece, the higher the collector’s value. Realism, detail and complexity together with size and the artist’s reputation, are the criteria that can easily push an artist’s work up into the the four figure price range, or even higher. Another important point is the material the scrimshaw is rendered on. Sperm whale teeth are very difficult to come by and should be legally obtained, adding to the price. Mammoth fossil teeth that are 10,000 years or older add a different appeal and are easier to get.

"Customers who do not know much about scrimshaw, do not always appreciate the value of this art," Kiracofe explains. "They see something that is too realistic or too small and think it cannot possibly be art. What they do not know is that you get only one chance to get it right, therefore requiring a high level of concentration, steadiness and discipline. It is not like an oil painting where you can go back and redo something. Plus, you also need good eyesight and correct lighting. I work with soft white light of 40 watt. High intensity lamps stresses the eyes too much. In fact doing such fine detailed work under intense bright light will give anyone a headache real quick."

Kiracofe also works quite comfortably at 9 inches distance form the artwork and have always created naked-eye renditions. Looking at the intricacy and accuracy of his work, this is something quite remarkable. It is only this year that he had to finally resort to glasses. By choosing Door County as their home, the Kiracofe family offers the peninsula its own scrimshaw studio and gallery, proudly the only one in the Midwest. Their Door County customers have their own unique scrimshaw requests. Battles of the Great Lakes are popular; Door County lighthouses sell as fast as they are made; the Christmas Tree ship that went down in a storm on route from Washington Island, has been another request. Further requests are for favorite pets, especially dogs and horses and the most surprising of all, the depiction of family homes. No matter what, Gary Kiracofe is truly a scrimshander of note, yet a modest one at that.

"What makes this business successful is the way my wife runs the business. I can make all the stuff I want, but if the business is not run properly, it will not work. So many artists forget the retail side of art. I am fortunate in that, thanks to my wife, I can forget about it. This is the difference between being a successful carver or not."

The art of scrimshaw may be two hundred years old, yet it still instills the 'desire to acquire' within us. It must be its artistic uniqueness, its distant connection with mysterious old sailing ships with wooden hulls, or even those old men of the sea who controlling their rowdy sailors with rations of whale teeth.

Whatever it may be, collecting scrimshaw is certainly a fulfilling passion for many.

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