Text by Maggie Woodard, photos by Mike Carrell, webpage by Fran Walker.

In 2008 the late Marion Rich donated more than 100 pieces of scrimshaw and other treasures, with the handsome cabinet displaying them, to Medford Leas. Her beautiful collection, located in the Lounge, is priceless. Most of the pieces were created in the 1800s, but there are also some modern ones. Marion and her late husband, Joe, thought about displaying the collection in a whaling museum, but they weren’t sure the pieces would be kept together. It was her hope that people will enjoy looking at them here.

To see a larger picture of some of the items, roll your mouse over the image below. When the small hand appears, click on the item and a new window will open. Close that window to return to this one.

Scrimshaw is the “careful decoration and carving of shells, bone, ivory, wood, etc., done especially by sailors on long voyages.”

Marion started her collection in 1970, when she and Joe were visiting Martha’s Vineyard. While browsing in an antique store, she saw and bought what is her favorite piece, a snuff box which had been made out of a whale’s tooth in 1832. It is located on the top shelf on the right. A whaling ship, its name, and the date are drawn on the tooth. A brass piece at the open end encloses the tooth for the storage of snuff.

Marion read and collected books about scrimshaw, some of which she donated to the Medford Leas Library. She attended auctions offering scrimshaw and became known by auctioneers. She often made absentee bids after the dealers sent her pictures and an estimate of an item to be sold.

Marion’s enormous collection was delivered to Todd Butler in boxes when she moved from her Rushmore apartment to Haddon. Todd spent hours deciding how to arrange the pieces in the display case and did his usual masterful job. He noted what he considered some especially choice pieces.

1. A very small wooden box containing ivory dominoes.
2. A small box with a sliding lid that contains ivory dice, as small as dried peas!
3. Studs for a lady’s fine dress or cufflinks, with very tiny ivory hands.
4. Various metal tools and needles used by sailors to hem the ship’s sails by hand. The needles were also used to make scrimshaw on those long voyages at sea.
5. An ivory-handled rocker blade for chopping nuts and other food.

Todd also suggested looking at a model of Old Ironsides, built by Jim Eynon, which is in a display case next to the Rich collection, and then finding the scrimshaw piece that has a drawing of that ship.