Description

Hand-colored mezzotint depicting a Greenland whaling scene. In the lower left foreground, men attack a polar bear with lances on a piece of floating ice. At right, three whaleboats surround a spouting whale, with their harpooneers poised to strike. Behind them, two whaleboats pull a whale by its harpoon lines; the whale is spouting, indicating that it is still alive. In the background are seven ships, the closest of which flies a flag which has been colored as a reversed French tricolore.

At bottom center is a box with the artist information and title: "Vdr. Mauden delin. T. Willson fecit. The GREENLAND WHALE FISHERY." At bottom left is printed "478".