The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-03-16
IVORY \ IT'S USES.
WHY CARVED OgN&MENTS IN IVORY
ARE VERY EXPENSIVE.

In This Caumtry-Ehc Price of Elephants
Tu,k. Has Not Greatly Changed in Re-
cent Years-A Costly Luxury.
When Whitelaw Reid was in search of
u workman to decorate apartments at
Ophir Farm with rich and beautiful an
tiuues brought over from Europe ne
found that there was but one man in
America who could do such work. and
he lay sick. Had Mr.. Reid been III search
of skilled ivory carvers he would have
found them almost As scarce. There are
not above three or -four ivory carvers OF
approved skill in New York. and hardly
so many in all the rest Of the country.
The men who do such work are paid
high wages the year round, whether
busy or idle. They are Frenchmen. Ger
mans and Italians. OF the three the
Italians are perhaps the most skillful.
since ivory carving has been an art i'll a
high degree of perfection among the
Italians for centuries. The most famous
ivory carver living, however. is a French
man, Moreau Vauthier. Few of his
masterpieces nave been seen in America.
though two were sold at the famous
Morgan art sale of a few years ago, and
two more, held at Il great price. are now
in the possession of a noted American
jeweler.
The ivory carvers of this country do
little or nothing in the East Indian or
japanese manner nor do they occupy
themselves with figure work. Their chief
employment Is in producing decorative
toilet and stationery articles. The rae
FOR stained an! carved ivory is of recent
growtl, in the United States, and the de-
mand for such articles l.; not large, as
they are more costly than the same
articles in silver would be. They were
produced to tickle the jaded aesthetic
palates of the rich and luxurious. and
only those who may trile away what
they will indulge themselves to any
considerable degree in carved ivory.
In all such articles the cost of the raw
material is small in comparison with
that of the labor. Billiard balls are
costly because they contain large guam.
titles of the finest ivory cut from the
best part of the tnsk. The labor cost Of
turned by machinery and rapidly. Thus
it often happens that a single small arti-
Gle. richly stained and carved, will cost
Ave times as much as IL billiard ball con-
tanning ten times the weight of ivory.
The carvers of ivory use much the same
tools as the wood caryers, hut of lighter
and more delicate make. TIE work is
extremely tedious and laboriols.
The carving is usually done in low re-
lief, and the subjects are such as are
suitable TO this tleatment-Persian de-
signs in delicate curves, the cactus. with
some varieties of palm. and hints caught
from those marvelously simple but al.
tiStic carvings of the Alaskan Indians.
Tie ivory is stained slightly, so as tc
bring out the design. and is permitted tc
absorb moisture. which it readily does,
i'll order to give it that fresh look com-
mon in newly manufactured articles Of
ivory. The art of staining ivory is a
secret guarded we'll by the carvers.
Some notion of the cost Of ivory cary
ing may be had from the fact that. while
Il hand mirror framed IN plainiyory may
be had for fen or twelve dollars. n mir
ror in carved ivory may cost 800 or
more. The small articles in carved
ivory cost from five 10 twenty-five dol
lars. and a toilet set in that material
may fetch as high as $500. Tie hmeri-
can climate, with its extremes of heat
and cold. is very trying upon ivory. and
ivory backed mirrors of European manu-
facture almost invariably crack across
the back after a few months of use upon
this side of the Atlantic. The American
manufacturers have hit uron the expe-
dent OF leaving Il space between glass
and frame in order to allow for contrac-
ton and expansion.
Nearly all the ivory brought to the
United States is bought in the great Lon
don market, where the price is knocked
about by bulls and bears. who corner
ivory as they corner wheat or corn. The
African rather than the Asiatic ivory is
brought TO this country, though n of
the largest tusks ever seen in this mar
ket-that of a sacred East Indian ele-
phant-bas just been mounted in orien-
tai style as a trophy of the chase. The
tusk measures more than six feet in
length and retains the marks it bore when
Worn by the sacred beast to which it be-
longed. Thanks to the predatory and
murlerous industry of Tippu Tib and
his black Zanzlbaris the supply of ivory
has kept pace with the increased demand
resulting from its extended use in this
country, and the price for the raw ma
terial has not permanently advanced. >
Few tusks of more than five feet in
length come to this country, and many
are less than four feet long. Many of
the tuaks reach here after having been
buried in Africa for years to save them
from thievish enemies Of the savage
owners. Every tusk must go through a
process of seasoning, long or short, ac.
cording as the process is natural Or arti.
fetal, before it is made up into articles
Of ornament or use. 1t is difficult to OBJ
tain a perfect slab of ivory more than
six inches in diameter, as the upper end
of the tusk. which is the thickest, is hol.