The Artists' House in British Columbia, Canada
Presents
Scrimshaw

by

Ernst E. Oslender

Home | Framed | Unframed | Objects | Jewelry | Bookmarks etc. | Commissions | How to purchase my works

Scrimshaw is a technique of engraving and subsequently filling the grooves with color. It dates back over two thousand years and was a medium of folk art on this continent during the whaling era. Ernst Egon Oslender is known worldwide as the Scrimshaw artist of genuine Canadian scenes. All the designs are entirely engraved by hand. He recycles rejected pieces of ivory from a company in Solingen, Germany, where Ernst lived before he moved to Canada. This company manufactured cutlery handles and piano keys between 1840 and 1935.