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Artifact

Fist Bodkin

/artifacts/views/bodkin_fist.jpg

Martha's Vineyard Museum

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About this artifact

This decorative scrimshaw bodkin is a sewing tool. The point of the instrument is used for punching holes into leather, or drawing a cord through a loop. Carved from ivory, it has a fist on its top. The fist was a common motif used by mariners for scrimshaw.

Date:
c. 1865
Dimensions:
Width: 5/16" Length: 2 3/4"

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