From the MTG: Hawke's Bay was major whaling region

Scrimshaw corset busk. Photo/Supplied

In the Hawke's Bay Museums Trust's collection are several beautiful examples of scrimshaw – items closely associated with whale-men and sailors.

Scrimshaw is the art of etching images on the byproducts of whales such as teeth, bone or baleen. It became a popular pastime among crew to create images of nautical scenes and motifs, women, whales and whatever else was conjured up.

Using simple ready-to-hand tools like sailing needles or knives to etch with, the design would then be coloured with ink or soot.

Scrimshanders also produced a variety of useful items that went beyond the purely decorative: in their hands, tooth and bone were transformed into tools, fashion accessories, game pieces and containers.

These items were often sold to supplement sailors' often-meagre incomes.

The worldwide whaling industry evolved in the early 19th century due to a universal demand for whale oil and whalebone. Oil removed from whale blubber and refined was used as an illuminant in lamps and as candle wax. Whalebone was an important component in the production of buggy whips, parasol ribs and women's corsets.

New Zealand focused on inshore whaling, beginning in the late 1820s and concentrated on capturing the Right whale.

The whaling season ran from May to October and during this period beaches around whaling stations smelt of blubber being boiled down, mingled with the strong stench of decaying flesh.

Inshore whaling could be conducted from ships anchored in a bay or from a land base: crews killed mainly cows and calves as female whales would come inshore to give birth.

This form of whaling was therefore responsible for its own demise, destroying the very means of its livelihood. By 1850, the number of Right whales was drastically reduced, resulting in many stations being abandoned.

Hawke's Bay was one of New Zealand's major whaling regions. Production began in 1837 at Mahia and Waikokopu.

By 1847 there were 17 five-oared boats operating out of Hawke's Bay stations. As the area was populated with Māori, a relationship evolved as the whalers were reliant on Māori for food and men to crew the boats and operate the shore works. Many whalers and Māori entered into relationships, some resulting in marriage.

Irishman William Morris was one of Hawke's Bay's predominant whalers. Initially he set up a whaling station on the Turanganui River, near Gisborne around 1835.

By 1845, he had established the Rangaiika Station at Cape Kidnappers - three boats operated from this area with a crew of between 20–26 men mainly from Tangoio. At some stage during his whaling career, Morris lost his right eye in a harpooning incident.

Morris was described in the Hawke's Bay Herald as "an astute and honourable man who had an obstinate streak".

At Tangoio he made firm friends with William Colenso who wrote in 1849 that Morris was a "dear old neighbour" who he was "indebted to … for many acts of kindness".

A successful businessman, Morris combined whaling with other business interests. From 1860–1867 Morris held a bush licence for a store at Mahia and would leave family members in charge during the whaling season.

There were no laws controlling whaling and conflict continually arose between stations over the ownership of a whale. On November 30, 1855, William Morris along with six other whalers from the Mahia area produced a code of ethics that stated:

As long as a man's line is attached to a whale and he has command of it, it is his.

If his harpoon remains in the fish and his boat is damaged or capsized, and the fish is finally captured by a second or third party, or the capsized boat's crew saved by them, the whale is to be divided equally.

If a whale is killed, anchored and buoyed, and afterwards drifts on shore, the man who killed the whale is the owner of it, even though the carcass is not on his ground.

If, when among a school of whales, two lines cross, and either boat is placed in danger, he who is most in danger cuts his own line first.

A drogue (a buoy at the end of a harpoon line) claims a dead whale.

Before signing the document, the group agreed that "it would be better that NO LIQUOR should come into Hawke's Bay". Whalers from the area respected this document as fair and just and acted within its guidelines.

Etched in the corset busk (a rigid bone inserted at the front of a corset) shown above, the scrimshander has captured the exciting and adventurous nature of whaling. Today we would be horrified by such a sight – with international conventions and sanctions around whaling.

WHAT'S ON
*Thomas Heatherwick lecture. Join acclaimed British lecturer Ian Swankie for an inspiring presentation about the extraordinary British designer, Thomas Heatherwick, who designed the spectacular Olympic Cauldron, the iconic new London bus and Cape Town's stunning Museum of Contemporary African Art. MTG Century Theatre, Sunday, May 5, 3pm-4pm. This event has been made possible by The Arts Society Hawke's Bay in partnership with MTG Hawke's Bay. Free event but registration is required. Bookings available through Eventfinda

*Exhibition Talk. Join social history curator Gail Pope for an insightful tour of House of Webb: A Victorian Family's Journey to Ormondville and learn more about the family and their lives. Tuesday, May 7 11am-12pm. All welcome, meet in MTG foyer. Free event.

*Exhibition Talk. Join Social History Curator – Gail Pope for an indepth look at Silver: Heirlooms from the Collection. Tuesday, May 7 12.30pm-1pm. All welcome, meet in MTG foyer. Free event.

*Exhibition Talk. Join taonga Māori curator Te Hira Henderson as he shares diverse stories of local iwi Ngāti Kahungunu and their enduring connection to the land through the taonga on display in Tēnei Tonu. Thursday, May 9 12pm-1pm. All welcome, meet in MTG foyer. Free event.

*The Road That Wasn't There. Award-winning company Trick of the Light Theatre present a story about a girl who followed a map off the edge of the world. Combining puppetry, shadow play and live music this is a must see for children 8+ as well as adventurous adults. MTG Century Theatre, Friday, May 10 1.30pm-2.30pm and Saturday, May 11 2pm-3pm. Tickets available through Ticketek.

*Exhibition Talk. Join one of our team for a discussion of 12 landscape paintings from the museum collection, exploring what these artworks can tell us about Pākeha culture and their relationship with the land of Te Matau a Maui / Hawke's Bay. Monday, May 13 12pm-1pm. All welcome, meet in MTG foyer. Free event.

*Kelvin Cruickshank. Join Kelvin as he reaches out to spirits and puts them in touch with those in the audience. MTG Century Theatre, 17 May 7pm-9.30pm. Tickets available through Ticketek.

*The World at Arm's Length. This film show a heart wrenching search for man's place in the world. Sven, lacking both sight and hearing takes on the pilgrimage of Camino de Santiago. The World at Arm's Length does not shy away from showing mankind at his most vulnerable, most hopeful, most excited, and most primal. MTG Century Theatre, Saturday, May 18, 2pm-3.30pm. $10 for adults. Free event for Friends of the Museum. Tickets available through Ticketek.

Gail Pope is Social History Curator at MTG.