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From Alaska comes a nice clean walrus tusk scrimshawed in the late 1980’s to early 1990 depicting a fishing trawler with a leaping fish. Nicely done, wonderful balance of scrimshaw to ivory, not heavily detailed or shaded. The signature is E.Okleasik and was given to the owner’s grandfather from a gentleman that moved to Alaska in the 1950’s.

The owners would love to know more about the artist, and are curious if it is real ivory, which I believe it is by the looks of the crazing and the ink working its way underneath the cracks. The base is sealed, but you can see the scribe lines of the scrimshaw near it, definitely not molded.

Does anyone know the artist E. Okleasik or have any information on them? Write your comments below, we’d love to see more of their work.

From Sarah: ” I recently acquired 2 scrimshaw pieces and I was hoping you could help me ID the artist. Also, I’m not sure what material it is either.”

The oval is 3″x2″ (76.2mmx50.4mm) She also attempted the hot pin test with no definite results. Aquired in New Jersey, it’s a nice looking piece with a lot of detail and the initials of the artist – something you don’t usually find on mass produced items. Sadly it’s difficult to make out the exact initials.

The typical reproductions are larger ovals and often in portrait mode, usually measuring approximately 4″x5″ (101.6mmx126.4mm) and often have the name of the ship on a banner, many times mounted in an oval frame. It looks like there is a small amount of color as well, though this may be an affect of the camera.

Even on a close-up, the initials are barely discernable. The images came in at 640x480px, so magnifying hasn’t helped.

Does anyone recognize this artist? Please add your comments below!

Solved! Thanks to “The Scrimshaw Collector’s Guild“, especially Bill Feeney and Jonathan Laubin. Now that I look at it, I can see “SB” more clearly. In case anyone is interested, as of 7/15/2020 there is another one for sale on Etsy.

What looks to be an old walrus tooth or a bone fragment, this scrimshaw of a lighthouse looks almost ancient. Nicely shadow framed, the artist’s mark is “SD” or “SB” if the crossing of the lower part of the S was meant to do so. Nice shading on the dome. The owner purchased it at the flea market near Asheville, NC from a lady who worked with girl scouts.

Anyone know the artist? Please comment in the section below!