Spermo Cutting In Whales On Japan, 1822

Identifier: 2008.0031.002
Title: Spermo Cutting In Whales On Japan, 1822
Creator: J. Fisher (nationality unknown, active 1820s)
Measurements: 47.6 x 62.8 cm (18 3/4 x 24 3/4 inches)
Materials: oil paint (paint); canvas (textile material)
Technique: painting (image-making)
Date Created: ca. 1823
Location: Nantucket Whaling Museum
Subject: Whaling ships; Whaling; Offshore whaling
Description: A painting of a black whaleship in choppy water red with blood, two whale carcasses floating along the ship’s right, or “starboard,” side. A strip of blubber has been cut from the carcass closest to the ship and hangs from its rigging. The process of breaking down a whale carcass was referred to as “cutting in.” Using 15-foot-long cutting spades, a whale’s blubber was removed in strips called “blanket pieces,” each of which weighed about a ton, and hoisted onto the ship for “trying out,” rendering it into oil primarily for use in candlemaking and lamps. The ship depicted in this painting, Spermo of Nantucket, provides a reference for what Essex looked like, as she was typical of whaleships of the early 1800s.
Inscriptions: Titled in lower center: Spermo Cutting In Whales On Japan, 1822. Signed in lower right: J. Fisher.