Pastry crimper (Scrimshaw wheel)

Description

Decorative pie crimpers are among the most numerous of the extant utilitarian scrimshaw. These types of objects have many different names, including pastry or pie crimper, pie wheel, pastry jagger, jagging wheel, and crimping wheel. Many were intricately ornamented or carved in the shape of animals. This pie crimper is carved in the shape of a sperm whale, a majestic marine mammal that was the frequent target of whaling ships. The whale's mouth is open to reveal a row of pronounced teeth on its lower jaw. The crimper itself is carved from the tooth of a sperm whale. Their large conical teeth were an important byproduct of the sperm whale hunt, carved and engraved by sailors to pass the time at sea, showcase their artistic talents, or to craft gifts for loved ones back home. The wheel would have been used for cutting rolled pastry or for crimping, or pressing, two sheets of pastry together (for example, the top and bottom pie crust). The fork would have been used to poke holes in the top of a pastry crust in order to vent a pie, or enable steam to escape when baking. This crimper serves as both a visual and material reminder of how the cultural practice of nineteenth-century whaling was not just relegated to the seas. Rather, it touched all aspects of life, including the domestic, quite tangibly in this case, as making a pie required a user to grasp the whale's body in their palm of their hand.