Whales, Walruses, and Elephants: Artisans in Ivory, Baleen, and Other Skeletal Materials in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Amsterdam
Marloes Rijkelijkhuizen
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M. Rijkelijkhuizen (
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) Department of Environmental Archaeology, Amsterdam Archaeological Center, University of Amsterdam
, Turfdraagsterpad 9, 1012 XT Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
Hard animal tissues obtained from whales, walruses, and elephants are baleen, whale bone, walrus ivory, walrus baculum, and elephant ivory. Objects of these materials were manufactured by artisans in Amsterdam in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. New archaeological and historical evidence show the import and importance if these materials. The importance of baleen is evident from historical sources. Whale bone and walrus penis bone were only used occasionally. The use of walrus ivory appeared to be of minor importance in comparison to elephant ivory. The Dutch elephant ivory trade in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is evident in historical and archaeological sources.
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Since the end of the sixteenth century, the Dutch Republic built up trade networks
with different parts of the world. Amsterdam became an important staple market and
a center of craft. Important trade companies were set up in the seventeenth century:
The East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC, 16021799)
(Gaastra 2002), the first West India Company (Eerste Westindische Compagnie,
WIC I, 162174), the second West India Company (Tweede Westindische
Compagnie, WIC II, 16741791) (den Heijer 2002) and for trade in the north, the
Noordsche Compagnie (161242). As a result of the foundation of these companies,
many exotic materials found their way to the Dutch Republic.
Archaeological sources from Amsterdam, combined with historical sources, can
give us more insight of the use of skeletal materials from whales, walruses, and
elephants. They provide information on economic aspects such as trade and craft in
these materials in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Amsterdam. The
Archaeological Service of Amsterdam has excavated over 2,000 objects made of hard animal
tissues such as bone, antler, ivory, horn, tortoise shell, hoof, and baleen that are dated
between the twelfth and twentieth centuries. Of all these objects, 60% was made of
bone, 33% of ivory, 4% of keratinous materials (horn, tortoise shell, hoof, and
baleen) and 3% of antler (Rijkelijkhuizen 2004).
Much has been written about the history of Dutch whaling. Literature on the subject
dates from the eighteenth century onwards (see e.g., Dekker 1971; Frank 2005; de
Jong 178486, 197279; Leinenga 1995; Lootsma 1937; Martens 1710; Muller
1874; Mnzing 1987; Zorgdrager and Moubach 1727/28; for a full overview of the
literature, see Hacquebord 1994). What follows is a short summary of Dutch whaling.
The First Dutch Whale Hunters and the Foundation of the Noordsche Compagnie
European whale hunting florished in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The
most important species of whale for seventeenth- and eighteenth-century whalers
was the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) (Hacquebord and Leinenga 1994,
p. 420; Leinenga 1995, p. 39). This whale is a baleen whale and belongs to the
family of Balaenidae. The advantages of the bowhead whale are that the blubber of
this species is very thick and therefore contains much oil, it also has the largest
baleen plates. Another whale of this family is the north Atlantic right whale
(Eubalaena glacialis). This whale was also hunted, but gave less train-oil and
shorter baleen plates than the bowhead whale (de Jong 197279, I, p. 14; Leinenga
1995, p. 55). Occasionally another species could be caught, such as sperm whale
(Physeter macrocephalus/cetodon) or narwhal (Monodon monoceros), but this did
not happen not very often (de Jong 197279, I, p. 14). The blubber of these big sea
mammals was cooked to obtain train-oil, which was used for lamps, soap, and
leather working (de Jong 197279, I, p. 39; Lootsma 1937, pp. 159164). Baleen
became an important product after the discovery of its qualities.
The Dutch whaling history started at the end of the sixteenth century, following
the English example. Both nations, however, could not have developed whale
hunting without the help of the Basques. The Basques had hunted whales for
centuries, beginning in the twelfth century. Their experience was used to establish
Dutch and English whaling, and Basques were the teachers of the northwest
European whale hunters (Frank 2005, p. 204; Hacquebord and Vroom 1988; Hart
1976; de Jong 197279, III; Mnzing 1987, p. 10).
At the end of the sixteenth century, the Dutch made several journeys to the north
in search of a northeast passage to Asia. In this search they also noticed the whales
and probably caught their first (small) whale near Russia (de Jong 197279, III,
p. 32). They also visited Spitsbergen and discovered Bereneiland (Bear Island). The
discovery of Bereneiland, however, was soon forgotten until rediscovered by the
English; they called it Cherie Island (de Jong 197279, I, p. 29). In 1604 or 1605
the English Muscovy Company started to h (...truncated)