Whales in Different Cultures

Whales are the largest animals in the world. For thousands of years, cultures across different continents copied their shapes onto their own belongings. In the cold waters of North America, the Thule people carved amulets from walrus tusks. Hunters carried these tiny objects with them when they headed out into the ocean. Along the California coast, the indigenous Chumash people carved soapstone, shrinking these massive creatures down to a size they could hold in the palms of their hands. The stone's smooth surface mimicked the animal's skin. On the Canadian coast, hunters wove whale scenes into hats made of cedar bark. With masks carved out of wood, they brought these large mammals into life on land. On the Peruvian coast of South America, the Nazca civilization painted killer whales on clay. The dry desert and the ocean sat side by side. Nazca masters drew orcas on ceramic bowls as the sea's apex predators. On these painted earthen vessels, the whales took the form of figures holding human heads in their hands. Sharp teeth and thick fins were placed directly onto objects made for carrying liquids. The shapes of ocean creatures were brought inside homes on the edge of the desert. In European monasteries, monks got to know the whale in a completely different way. In German, French, and Italian manuscripts, the whale was a part of religious texts. In drawings on parchment, scaly, sharp-toothed creatures appeared swallowing the prophet Jonah. Medieval bestiaries featured drawings of floating masses that sailors mistook for islands, climbing onto their backs to tie up their ships. Many of the illustrators hadn't seen the open sea. They transferred the descriptions from written texts onto paper using brightly colored inks. Over in Asia, Edo-period Japanese artists studied marine mammals up close. Woodblock masters drew and classified different whale species with accurate anatomical proportions. Ukiyo-e painters printed boats on the ocean, the movement of the water, and whalers in full detail. In the seventeenth century, Dutch artisans applied the whale form to a glass bottle that looked like a leather shoe. In the twentieth century, Russian artists turned them into wooden nesting dolls. Those living on the coast carved bone, stone, and clay. Those far from the sea illustrated texts that came from distant lands. Music: Hearth - Ever So Blue

Sad whale, happy whale, whale who has seen horrors beyond cetacean comprehension.

Wow so cute! I wonder why we have such little while artifact in ancient China!

ale wielka ryba!

I thought whales don't eat humans? One of the depictions clearly disagrees

@proffwolff

whats the song?

鯨の姿が、とても身近で、親しみのあるデザインとしても多く制作されているのですね。今、鯨は世界で、何種類くらい生息しているのですか？全部で何頭ほど生息していますか？@grok