Museum experts have whale of a time cleaning carvings

And now Europe’s largest collection of “Scrimshaw” – carvings and engravings on whales’ teeth – is being restored at a Hull museum.

The Maritime Museum holds hundreds of pieces of Scrimshaw dating from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Now the display is getting a good brush-up as part of a wider programme of Government-funded improvements to the museum.

Robin Diaper, curator of maritime and social history at Hull museums, said: “It’s probably the last year we will receive this kind of funding so we are just making what improvements we can.

“Scrimshaw was identified as being a priority because it’s very valuable and historically important and it’s the biggest collection this side of the Atlantic.”

Mr Diaper said the artworks had some high-profile enthusiasts on the other side of the ocean.

He said: “It was something to pass the time on board ship. It kept people out of trouble and they would make them as mementoes to leave at home for the family or just as decorative items.

“John F Kennedy was a collector and was buried with his favourite piece.”