MIT MuseumObjects
Viewing Record 152 of 391Previous Record Next Record
Switch Views: Lightbox | Image List | List
Welcome to the archived version of the MIT Museum's online collections portal! This site was used to test features and content for the newly redesigned MIT Museum Collections site, which has now launched with over 106,000 objects. Please use the new MIT Museum Collections site for further research and discovery. Webmuseum.mit.edu remains online during the transition period but will not receive new updates or content.
Whaling Scene
Named collection: Allan Forbes Collection
Object type: watercolor
Maker: unknown
Place made: United Kingdom
Date made: 1700-1799
Materials: ink; watercolor; laid paper
Measurements: 9 1/4 in x 15 in
Nomenclature: whaling scenes
Classification: whales
Hand-painted watercolor on laid paper depicting an Arctic whaling scene. In the bottom right corner, a man shoots a walrus on a patch of ice. The artist has painted the gunfire red, and the walrus' eyebrows are upturned in an aggrieved expression as it turns its head towards its assailant. In the bottom left corner, two men attack a polar bear, drawn with a boar-like snout, with lances. There are four whaleboats on the water. Three, in the central foreground, surround a spouting whale with their harpooneersmen preparing to strike. In the right-hand background, a harpooneersman on a fourth boat strikes another whale. There are three ships visible; the closest flies a red flag with the Union Jack in the canton. A fourth ship is discernable in the far left background. Icebergs and cloudbanks line the horizon line. The rays of the sun come out from behind a cloud. No date or signature.
AF-WB-0322