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Intricate Scrimshaw Swift | Nantucket Whaling Museum

This is a swift, an intricate device used for winding yarn into a ball. Swifts are among the most intricate of scrimshaw projects, with over a hundred pieces incorporated into the final product. Swifts could usually be mounted on table tops via an adjustable clamp, though some were mounted on inlaid wooden stands such as the one pictured here.

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Filename: intricate-scrimshaw-swift-nantucket-whaling-museum-201307-0176.tif
Copyright: Copyright Tony Wu. All rights reserved. No reproduction in any form without prior written permission
Image Size: 3685x5527 / 58.3MB; https://www.photoshelter.com/support/license#rm; https://www.tony-wu.com/contact-tony-wu; Whale Sperm Whale Animalia Chordata Mammalia Cetacea Odontoceti Physeteridae Physeter macrocephalus Cetartiodactyla Cachalot Marine Mammal Odontocete Physeter catadon Toothed Whale CITES Appendix 1 Vulnerable: IUCN Red List United States of America Massachusetts Nantucket Nantucket Whaling Museum Scrimshaw
Contained in galleries: Ship Strikes, Strandings, Skeletons, Sperm Whales

This is a swift, an intricate device used for winding yarn into a ball. Swifts are among the most intricate of scrimshaw projects, with over a hundred pieces incorporated into the final product. Swifts could usually be mounted on table tops via an adjustable clamp, though some were mounted on inlaid wooden stands such as the one pictured here.