Whaling ships and their crews made long and arduous journey and were often stranded; in one very bad season, Montrose whaler ships were stranded in Baffin Bay from June to September. Spare time was often passed making objects such as this engraved and coloured whale's tooth or scrimshaw.

The tooth measures 100 x 210 mm and has the carefully engraved image of a late eighteenth or early nineteenth man-o-war ship on it. The ship is coloured with black and red ink on the ivory of the tooth and is depicted in great detail from the ship's guns to its rigging.