The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1893-03-04
Elephants Ivory and Its Uses.
From the New York Sun.

OpnH Farm WIN rlcn ana Deautlful an
tiques brought over from Europe he found
that there was but one man in America who
could do such work, and he lay sick. Had
Mr.. Reid been in 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 French
men, Germans and Italians. OF the three
the Italians are perhaps the most skillful,
since ivory carving has been an art in a
high degree of perfection apong the Ital-
ians for centuries. The most famous ivory
carver living, however, is Frenchman,
Moreau Vauthier. Few of his masterpieces
have been seen in America, though two
were sold at the famous Morgan art sale
of few years ago, and two more held at
great price, are now in the possession of
noted American jcweller.
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 rage
for stained and carved ivory is of recent
growth in the United States, and the de-
mand for such articles is 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
triae away what they will, indulge them
selves 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 be-
cause they contain large quantities of the
finest ivory cut from the best part of the
tusk. The labor cost of billiard balls is
trifing, as they are turned by machinery,
and rapidly. Thus it often happens that
a single small article, richly stained and
carved, will cost five times as much as a
billiard ball containing ten times the weight
of ivory. The carvers of ivory use much
| Tho CANA tools &c tba wool oar,,ars. but of
lighter and more delicate make. The
work is extremely tedious and laborious
The carving is usually done in low relief,
and the subjects are such as are suitable
to this treatment-Persian designs in deli
cate curves, the cactus with some varieties
of palm, and hints caught from those mar
velously simple but artistic carvings of the
Alaskan Indians. The ivory is stained
slightly so as to bring out the design, and
is permitted to absorb moisture, which it
readily does, in order TO give it that fresh
look common in newly manufactured arti-
cles of ivory. The art of staining ivory is
a secret guarded well by the carvers.
Some notion of the cost of ivory carving
may be had from the fact that while hand
mirror framed in plain ivory may be had
for SO or S12, mirror in carved ivory
may cost 500 or more The small articles
in carved ivory cost from s5 to S25, and a
toilet set in that material may fetch as high
as S500 The American climate, with its
extremes of heat and cold, is very trying
upon ivory, and ivory backed mirrors Of
European manufacture almost invariably
crack across the back after few months
of use upon this side of the Atlantic. The
American manufacturers have hit upon the
expedient of leaving space between glass
and frame in order to allow for contraction
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 one of the largest
tusks ever seen in this market, that of a
sacred East Indian elephant, has just been
mounted in Oriental style as trophy OF
the chase. The tusk measures more than
six feet in length and retains the marks ID
4
bore when worn by the sacred beast to
which it belonged Thanks to the preda-
tory and murderous industry Of Tippu Tib
and his black Zanzibaris, the supply of
ivory has kept pace with the increased de-
mand resulting from its extended use In
this country, and the price for the raw
material 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 tusks
. reach here after having been buried IN
Africa for years to save them from thiey-
, ish enemies of the savage owners. Every
tusk must go through process Of season
ing, long or short, according as the process
is natural or artificial, before it is made up
into articles of ornament or use. 1t is
difficult to obtain perfect slab of ivory
l more than six inches in diameter, as the
f upper end of the tusk, which is the thick
est, is hollow, and the material is cOarser
than that in the solid part Of the tusk.
From the latter are made billiard balls and
the most beautifully carved articles Of the
toilet and the writing desk. From the
} coarser parts are made poker chips, buttons
and hundred small articles. Every part
of the tusk is put to use. Even the chips
and sawdust are converted into ivory black