For your consideration this lot is a Signed Alaskan Baleen Scrimshaw Wall Art Hanging. Baleen is a material, that comes from a variety of whales, which functions as a filter-feeding system inside their mouths. Stiff and sturdy yet also flexible and stringy once peeled, baleen was traditionally used for a variety of purposes. In Inuit art, baleen is used as both medium and subject. New England whalers introduced scrimshaw to the northern Eskimos in the early 19th century. For decades, the appreciation of scrimshaw as an art form was largely confined to nautical museums and a handful of collectors. That began to change, though, after the 1955 publication of Everett Crosby’s book, Susan’s Teeth and Much Ado About Scrimshaw. Today the art form is very popular among Alaskan artists, both Alaska Native and non-native, who use walrus ivory, mammoth ivory, baleen and antler as a medium. This detailed baleen scrimshaw features scrimshaw images of two seals swimming, a seal laying on an ice floe, two spouting whales approaching three fishermen in a Jon boat (whaleboat), the bow fisherman is preparing to throw a fishing spear, behind the Jon boat is a staked tent presumably on shore. The artist's signature can be faintly visible at the bottom edge below the "land mass" on which the tent is staked. This is a well-preserved baleen frond is most likely from a bowhead whale, the hunting of which has been part of Alaskan culture for thousands of years. Bowhead whales have the longest baleen plates of all whales. Rear of baleen has two O-rings attached on leather strips for wall hanging. In very nice condition, this baleen scrimshaw frond is approximately 64"L, the widest part is 4.25"W.