Monodon Monocerus (Narwhal Tusk/Unicorn Horn)

Arctic region
The narwhal is a whale. The left tooth in the male's upper jaw grows out as a tusk with a spiral up to 10 ft. long. This one is 7 ft. 6 in. In the Middle Ages, the tusks, which washed up on beaches from time to time, were believed to belong to the mythic unicorn ("having one horn"), which could neutralize poison with its horn and be tamed only by a virgin.
The unicorn was said to look like a horse with the tail of a goat and a spike issuing from its forehead. Travelers reported sightings in Africa and India but descriptions differed. By the 1600s, many questioned such tales; a few naturalists familiar with deep-sea life insisted that the "horns" were tusks of the "sea unicorn" or narwhal. In 1540, Emperor Ferdinand was thrilled to receive a "unicorn horn" from the king of Poland who wrote that it was from an animal captured in the Polish forests. This tusk, lent by the heirs of former Walters director Richard Randall, honors the chamber of wonders that he created in the Walters in 1971-72.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Grise Fiord Inuit Cooperative, Northwest Territory, Canada, August 1971; Richard Randall, Baltimore, by purchase; Lilian Randall, by bequest; Walters Art Museum, 2012, by gift.