Object Details
- Description
- After a whale was captured, killed, and brought alongside the mother ship, its carcass had to be processed. First, a heavy hook was set into its skin and the hook’s line was taken aboard. Set on a long wooden handle, the cutting spade was used to cut “blanket pieces,” or long, thick, wide slices of skin and blubber from the body. The whale’s flesh was then hauled aboard for further processing. This example is marked “J.D. Cast Steel.”
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- date made
- mid-1800s
- Credit Line
- Transfer from Bureau of Fisheries
- Physical Description
- ferrous metal (overall material)
- textile (cord material)
- resin coating (cord production method/technique)
- Measurements
- overall: 17 in x 2 3/4 in; 43.18 cm x 6.985 cm
- Object Name
- spade, whaling
