January 2025: Object of The Month ‘Scrimshaw Turban Shell’
January’s Object of the Month follows on from last month’s theme of featured objects in Museum and Art Swindon’s folk exhibition Un/Common People. This month is a scrimshaw shell. It is a relatively new acquisition into STEAM’s collection, and one of our more unusual pieces. It was donated by a family member of Sir Daniel Gooch who was locomotive superintendent of the GWR between 1837 and 1864.
What is a scrimshaw shell? Scrimshaw was a name first given to objects made and decorated by members of the whaling community from the 17th Century. Typically this included carved whalebone, but also included teeth, tusks, horn and shells. Scrimshaw was often a past time of mariners and was popular in the 19th Century.
Our scrimshaw shell dates from the early 1860s. It features the SS Great Eastern, a steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The ship was launched in 1858 and for its first few years became a passenger liner for services between Britain and North America. Our shell was carved on board by Charles H Wood. He used a penknife to etch the shell and probably sold his wares as souvenirs on the ship, or at the dockside of the final destination. Etched on the shell is a reference to the patronage of Queen Victoria. Wood displayed his shells at the Great Exhibition in 1851 and it is believed he gave the Queen several pieces of his work.
The SS Great Eastern stopped passenger services in 1862 after it struck rocks near New York. By 1865 it was back in operation, this time laying the first successful underwater transatlantic cable. Sir Daniel Gooch was the Chief Engineer of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company which manufactured the cable and was on board the SS Great Eastern whilst it was being laid.
Our scrimshaw shell is currently on display in Un/Common People: Folk Culture in Wessex at Museum & Art Swindon until 8th March 2025.
