Whaler's Boarding Knife
Whaler's Boarding Knife
Usage conditions apply
- Description
- The work of carving blubber from a whale carcass and hauling the long, narrow strips of flesh, called “blanket pieces,” aboard the ship onto the deck was called “boarding.” The boarding knife was an extremely sharp, double-edged sword blade at the end of a short wooden pole. It served a variety of purposes, from cutting a hole in the whale’s flesh for the blubber hook, to cutting the long strips of flesh into shorter sections for further processing.
- These tools were kept extremely sharp to cut the whale’s flesh easily. With the decks and tools so slippery from the whale processing, using them was reserved for the ship’s officers.
- Object Name
- knife, boarding
- date made
- 1876
- collected
- 1876
- Place Made
- United States: Connecticut, Middletown
- Physical Description
- ferrous metal (blade material)
- cast (blade production method/technique)
- wood (handle material)
- Measurements
- blade: 32 1/2 in; x 82.55 cm
- handle: 27 3/4 in; x 70.485 cm
- overall: 60 1/4 in; x 153.035 cm
- ID Number
- AG.026608
- catalog number
- 026608
- accession number
- 4927
- Credit Line
- A.R. Crittenden
- subject
- Whaling
- The Development of the Industrial United States
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Fisheries
- Work
- Cultures & Communities
- Natural Resources
- On the Water exhibit
- Transportation
- Exhibition
- On the Water
- Exhibition Location
- National Museum of American History
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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