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Standard Whale Boat
Standard Whale Boat

Standard Whale Boat

Bernard Hart
mid-19th century
Medium/TechniqueWood
Dimensions57.15 cm (22 1/2 in.)
Credit LineGift of John Templeman Coolidge
Accession number32.169
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsModels
Collections
Description
Hart constructed this model after a late-nineteenth or early-twentieth century whaleboat then on view at the Dartmouth Historical Society in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Whaling vessels typically carried four to six such boats, each manned by four oarsmen, an officer (or boat header), and a harpooner (or boat steerer). It was in these small boats that the actual pursuit and capture of a whale took place. This model is well equipped and ready for the chase.
ProvenanceLent by J. Templeman Coolidge / February 27, 1929