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The oil they obtained was a commodity much needed and, in those days, man did not, as yet, know how to obtain fossil oils from beneath the sea or the land. Whale bone was used to create stiffness in ladies' corsets, amongst other things - it seems we were into torturing ourselves, as much as any other creature, in those times. 
The many teeth from the jaw of each whale thus processed and, indeed, the jawbone itself, amongst other bones, were prized by many, as materials that could be worked to produce adornments and decorative objects. The results ranged from the crude efforts of rough and ready sailors, eager to while away some of the long hours at sea, to works of fine art of a breathtaking quality. 

To this day, a tiny handful of people across the world still produce scrimshaw, as this type of work is called, on the ever-dwindling supply of whale teeth and bones that come their way. Although many whales were killed in the days of widespread whaling, and too many continue to be slaughtered under one pretext or another these days, the majority of whales were stripped of the blubber and oils that were the motive for hunting them and the carcass, teeth, bones and all, was left to sink and be consumed by other creatures of the sea. 

Whaling ships possessed neither the space nor the facilities for the storage of whole carcasses and, unless individuals took a few teeth, they remained with the carcass, drifting down into the deep. 
The exception to this necessarily wasteful rule was the whaling done around islands such as the Azorean archipelago, some Pacific islands and Bequia, largest of the islands in St.Vincent and the Grenadines, part of the Caribbean chain. Since the carcasses were (and in Bequia, for example, where there is still a tiny quota of whaling permitted, still are) brought ashore, every part of the whale became available for one purpose or another. The meat, instead of being thrown back into the sea, was eaten and the teeth and bones remained ashore.

Whilst on the island of Faial, in the Azores, we visited the Scrimshaw Museu, a private collection housed above Peter Sport Café, opposite the harbour that includes Horta marina.

The Azevedo family have been collecting scrimshaw and other related artefacts for many years and, in 1986, they opened their museum which is accessed via a door inside the café itself. 

The objects on display here, almost 1000 items, are beautifully presented.
There are works by a number of known, and unknown, artists. 

The talents of one, in particular, were recognised by Peter and his family while she was still a very young woman. Fátima Madruga Gomes supplied the café with works to sell, many of such an astounding quality that the family began to acquire pieces to keep. 
She showed a wonderful talent for making portraits of sea-faring people, especially, and has produced many of the fine works in the Scrimshaw Museum. On the next page are some examples of objects to be seen there.