Historical information
A harpoon is a long, spear-like instrument used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other marine hunting activities to catch large fish or marine mammals, such as whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal and securing it with barbs or toggling claws, allowing the fishermen to use a rope or chain attached to the projectile to catch the animal.
The earliest known harpoons have been dated back to being made and used approximately 90,000 years ago. In the early whaling industry, the two-flue harpoon was the primary weapon used around the world. The two fluke harpoons tended to penetrate no deeper than the soft outer layer of a whale's blubber. So, it was often possible for the whale to escape by struggling or swimming away forcefully enough to pull the shallowly embedded barbs out backwards.
This design flaw was corrected in the early nineteenth century with the creation of the one-fluke harpoon. By removing one of the flukes, the head of the harpoon was narrowed, making it easier for it to penetrate deep enough to hold fast. In the Arctic, the indigenous people used the more advanced toggling harpoon design, and by the mid-19th century, the toggling harpoon was adapted by Lewis Temple. The Temple toggle was widely used and quickly came to dominate the whaling industry.
Significance
The hand-forged harpoon demonstrates the blacksmith's art for fashioning an item used during the early 19th century in the significant industry of whaling. Harpoons were used during a time when the world depended on the natural resources derived from whales; oil for lighting, lubrication, margarine, candles, soaps and cosmetics, as well as the use of the whale's bones for various other items such as corsets, umbrellas, fertiliser and animal feed.
The item is significant as it was probably made between 1820 and 1850, after which a single fluke and toggle harpoon began to be used extensively in the whaling industry. Also coming into general use was a black powder gun to fire the harpoon rather than the early type that had to be manually thrown by a mariner from a row boat, of which the subject item is an example.
Physical description
Harpoon: a hand forged, double fluke, steel whaling harpoon with an arrowhead tip on a square shank. The shank tapers to a narrow round shaft with a split metal cone to accommodate a wooden harpoon pole. The harpoon was restored in the 2010s using traditional blacksmithing methods, with the shaft and cone added to the original arrowhead and shank.
