Went to the Brooklyn Museum's Luce collection, where they have a impressive range of early American naive art. I took a shot of this example they have of scrimshaw dated to about 1830. Scrimshaw is basically carving into the enamel of a whale's tooth or bone surface with a sharp object and rubbing in lamp black or tobacco juice to darken the lines. This one is on the tooth of a sperm whale. Something to put in your trivial facts file is, that the maker of a scrimshaw is called a scrimhander. I really liked this portrait (self?) of a young whaler out of America's northeast. It really has a power to it, possessing all that is needing to make a good portrait, including a frame. I like the sense of wind given by the ribbon on the hat. No, it's not a deep, physiological survey of the sitter, but there is a sweetness to it. On the opposite side, there is a portrait of a young woman, though it's impossible to see due to the way the tooth is mounted. Husband & wife? There was no indication that this was the case--romantics can speculate. The patterns are interesting too, very intricate, pyramids on the bottom with floral/leaf design up top. You won't see much scrimshaw made these days, with whales being endangered and all.I took this picture by placing my camera lens right against the glass so there was minimal shake and no reflection. Enjoy.