The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-03-02
IVORY AND IT'S USES.
WHY CARVED ORNAMENTS IN IVORY
ARE VERY EXPENSIVE.


cent years-s Gos,is Iuxury.
When Whitelaw Reid was in arch of
u workman to decorate apartments at
Oplir Farm with rich and beattfui ~
iidues brought over from Europe lie
found tina: there was but one MIN il
America who could do such work. ar!
he iayaio'.. HID Mr.. Reid been in scar
# skilled iyoSv carycrs he would haya
founi them almost a. scarce. There are
uot above t.,rec OF four ivory csryers Of
approved skill in New, York. aaa iGar&l.
10 many III I'll the rest of the couatry.
The ilen who do sach WORK are pa:
high wages the year round. whether
busy ~ idle. They are Frenchmcn. Ger
mans and l,alians. OF the three tx
Italians are l~elilsp, the most s~'iiilful,
since ivory carving stts been III ART iii 4;
higli ~,ie-ree of perfection among IT,
~Italilns for centuries. The most farinrt
ivory c@rvrr living. however. i'a TrsEcsi-
man. Nnreal Nautllier. Few of his
masterpieces have been seen in America.
though two were sold ut the fa.loa-
Morgan ut sale Of a few years az. and
TIVE more, held at Il great rr;",. ar row
in ine possession OF IL notcl American
iewa,er.
The ivory c,rvers # TIL coul.lv d.
little or nothing il III" East Indian al
JarrIl"4, manner. no, do they ocem'
Ihrl.:-e! with tiEl..r work. tii9!r un.ri
en-. nient l. lii producing decorative
.u!lrE and sta,i"fr"rr articles. I!ar .
for stained an,. c..N"a irlt:r is ~ rec@-t
grow, ii me Irits Sl&jes. ana lie d
maid tgr aurh articles Is 'aYt l.rsn. g
sl.av - unre eaa.lv t..s,.l tie sanie
articles IL silver woal. ic. They We're
iroa3aced - tickle IT, jaGal aesthetic
,~,al.tes of the rici. ana luxurious. and
only those who MY ;rifte aw ay whit
they sill iatt.,gr themselves to any
considcrahi" d,glre ii carved ivory.
In al such articles The cost of tie raw
material is small III comparison with
that of the labor. Billiard balls are
costly because they contain large qua.l-
titles Of the tino,t ivory c1.t from III,
best part Of the tnsA. Tine labor cost o,
billiard balls i, tria.ui-. DIS they a.c
turned hy machinery mn! rapidly. Tint,
it oftcu lappeas that : @lnsle small Gr.i-
Gle. richly ~sraina,l an carved. will coat
five times as mach as IL billiard bail 20
tanning ten times The weight Of ivory.
The carvers OF ivory u~c much tI2 same
tools as the wood carvlr-, hut Of lighter
and More Gelicatc make. II. wnr.- is
extremely telioEs ard la5orions.
TIL carving is usually Gone i'll lo"T re-
lief. anl TIE subjects are such as are
= ,7S-lht, .. t1j- -a,.-,ar.. y -. ~ 10
si-ns i'll delicate carves. the cactus. with
so.2n varieties of palm. ani hintsctught
from those marvelously simple but ar
.istic carvings of the Alaskan Indians.
Tie rory is stained slightly. so as t.
biir,. out the design. and is permitted to
absorb moisture, which it readily dos.
iii o-ler to give it that fresh look ON
mon iii newly manufactured articles of
ivory. The art of staining ivory is A
secret guarded well by the carvers.
Some notion of the cost Of ivory cary
in. may be had from the fact that. while
a hand mirror framed in plain ivory may
be bad for ten or twelve dollars. a mir
rar 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 Ameri-
can climate. with its extremes OF heat
and cold. is very trying upon ivory. and
ivory backed mirror Of European manu-
f~actrire almost Invariably crack across
the back after IA few months of Use upon
this side % the Atlantic. The American
manufacturers have hit upon 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 boughtin 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
tine largest tusks ever seen in this mar
ket--that of "a sacred East Indian ele-
phant-has just been, mounted in orien-
tai style rs 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-
lonsed. Thanks to the predatory and
murderous industry of Tippu lib and
his black Zanzibaris 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 icet lon. Many Of
the tusks reach here after having been
buried in Africa for years to save them
from thieyish enemies of the savage
owners. Every tusi must 60 through "A
process of seasoning. long or short, az
cording as the process is natural or arti-
fetal. before it is made mp into articles
OF OF use. 1t is difficult to oh
tain a perfect slab Of ivory more thai
six inches in diameter, as the upper end
of the tusk, which is the thickest. is hol-
low and the material is coarser than that