The Capt. Albert C. Gardner Memorial Scrimshaw Whale Tooth

Date: 1838 to 1840
Location: Pacific Ocean
Surnames/tags: Gardner, Gardiner Family Heirloom

Albert C. Gardner of Nantucket was captain of the 1836-40 voyage of the Nantucket whale ship Omega, but passed away on February 10, 1838 off the coast of Lima, Peru. The tooth depicts a 3-masted ship flying an American flag and long pennant, with an eagle, shield, arrows, and olives in its talons. On the reverse side is a willow tree and woman mourning at a monument that says “Albert Gardner Lost at Sea 1840”. The Omega returned to Nantucket in the spring of 1840, which may have been the earliest his wife, Sophronia Nye Edwards and their one daughter Sarah, learned of his death.

The whale tooth was likely gifted to Capt. Gardner's family. It is currently in the collection of the Nantucket Historical Association.

Sources

• Nantucket Historical Association permanent collection: https://nantuckethistory.org:443/permalink/?key=1003_426
• "Nantucket Historical Association Acquires Significant Memoir, Albert C. Gardner Tooth, and Huggins Painting," December 12, 2019, Nantucket Historical Association, https://nha.org/nantucket-historical-association-acquires-significant-memoir-albert-c-gardner-tooth-and-huggins-painting/
• "Preserving Island History: New Acquisitions by the Nantucket Historical Association," Nantucket.net Blog, January 12, 2020, accessed 7 Jun 2022, https://blog.nantucket.net/preserving-nantucket-history/