The scrimshawed jawbones of a Hawaiian Pilot Whale, dated 1845. Profusely decorated lower left and right jaw with the following scenes: Sperm Whale profile portrait at top; American Flag on a pole held by Lady Liberty in 1830s style gown as she grasps an anchor; a portrait of an American naval Ship-of-the-Line, as authorized in 1814 by Congress, flying a commodore's pennant; a port scene of Honolulu next to a Royal Palm with the name "Bethel" flying from a flag on a church with a schooner weathervane atop its spire, with other buildings, one flying the American Flag.
A second group of engraved images: Land and foliage, a Coconut Palm resting on land; a portrait of an American merchant sailing ship under reduced sail in heavy seas.
A custom stand holding the two piece display is made of shark vertebrae, ebony, and oak.
The "Bethel" Flag once identified non-conforming churches, but by 1843 in Herman Melville's biography it is stated that it then specifically identified seamen's chapels. Th eparticular flag Melville saw at Honolulu was the recent gift of Capt. Long of the U.S. Naval Ship BOSTON.
