Whaleman Statue

Whaleman Statue

Sculptor: Bela Lyon Pratt (1867-1917). Installation: 1913.

The Whaleman Statue is a gift of distinguished citizen William W. Crapo (1830-1926) to the City of New Bedford as a memorial to the Whaling Industry. Crapo commissioned the sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt to create the bronze statue. The base was designed by architect Nathaniel Smith. Unveiled Jun 20, 1913 on Library Square the statue depicts a boatsteerer about to harpoon a whale. The base is incised with the line of text, "A dead whale or a stove boat." “Stove Boat” means a smashed boat, suggesting a dead whale is better than a smashed boat. In the mid 1970’s the New Bedford Preservation Society undertook a significant preservation effort in cleaning 60 years of grime and green verdigris which was obliterating the bronze details.