Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1893-02-11
IVORY AND IT'S USES.
WHY CARVED ORNAMENTS IN IVORY
ARE VERY EXPENSIVE.

WHY CARVED ORNAMENTS IN IVORY
ARE VERY EXPENSIVE.
There AFRO Few Expert Workers in Ivory
in This Countrywide Price Of Elephants
Tuslss Hrs Not Greatly Changed In Re-
cent Yeirs--A Costly Luxury.
When Whitelaw Reid was in search Of
q workman to decorate apartments at
Ophir Farm with rich and beautiful an
tiqucs 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
rot ADORE three or four ivory caryers Of
approved skill in New York, and hardly
80 many in I'LL the rest OF the country.
The men who do such work are paid
high wages the year round, whether
busy or idle. They nrc Frenchmcn, Ger
mans and Italians. Of tho three tho
Italians are perhaps the most skiliful,
since ivory carving has been an art In y
high degree Of perfection among the
Italians for centuries. The most famo1s
ivory carver living, however, is Il French
man, Moreau Vautilier 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 Il great price, are now
in the possession of O noted American
iewcler.
The ivory carvers OF this country do
little OF 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 articlcs. The rage
fcr stained and carved ivory is Of recent
growth in tine United States, and the de-
mand for suca articles is rot large, as
they are more costly than tho same
articles in silver would be. They were
produced! TO tickle the jailed aesthetic
palates OF the rich Gnl luxurious, and
only these who may tridc away what
they will in,,ilsc themselves 10 any
considerable degree il carved ivory.
In,all such articles the cost Of tho raw
material is snail in comparison with
that Of tho labor. Billiard Lalls ace
costly because they contain large qna-i-
titles of the finest ivo:!. cut from the
best part OF the t,lsk. Tao labor cost of
billiard balls l., triling rs they arc
turned by machinery ana rapidly. Thus
it often happens that Il single small Grti-
Gle, richly stained and carved, will cost
FIVE times us much as billiard ball con-
tanning ten times tie weight of ivory.
The carvers OF ivory use much the same
tools as the wool carvers, but of lighter
and more delicate make. Tie work is
extremely tedious and laborious.
The carving is usually done in low re.
lief. and the subjects are such as are
suitable to this treatmcnt-Persian de-
signs in delicate curves, tine cactus, with
some varieties Of PALM and hints caught
from those marvelously simple but ar
tistic carvings of the Alaskan Indians.
; The ivory is stained slightly.lso as to
bring out the design, and is permitted to
absorb moisture, which it readily does.
in order to give it that fresh look COM
mon in 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
ing may be had from the fact that, while
hand mirror framed in plain ivory may
be had for ten or twelve dollars, mir
TOT in carved ivory may cost $lOO OF
more. The small articles In carved
ivory cost from five to twenty-five dol
Lars, and a toilet set in that material
may fetch rs high as $500. The Ameri-
Gun climate. with its extremes Of heat
and cold, is very trying upon ivory, and
ivory backed mirrors Of European manu-
facturo almost invariably crack across
the back after few months of use upon
this side of the Atlantic. The American
manufacturers have hit upon the expe-
dent Of leaving u 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. Tho
African rather than the Asiatic ivoryis
brought to this country, though one OF
the largest tllsks ever seen in this mar
kct-that of sacred East Indian ele-
phant-has just been mounted in oricn-
tai style as n 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
nurderons industry of Tippu lib and
his black Zanzibaris the supply of ivory
has kept pace with the increased demand
resulting from It's extended use in this
country. and the price for the raw ma
terial has not permanently advanced.
Few tusks of more than five feet i'll
length come to this country, and many
ere less than four feet long. Many of
the tusks reach here after having been
buried in Africa for years to save them
from thievish enemies of the savage
owners. Every trs, rlust 80 through d
process Of seasoning long CT short, &c
cordins rs the process is natural or arti-
fetal, before it is made up into articles
of orra1aeli. or use. 1t is difficult TO Oh
tain Il perfect slab CT ivory more than
Elk inches i:is!;ametcr, as the upper end
Of tie trs!s. which is the tli;clest. is hol-
low and the material is coarser than that
in the solid part Of the tl.sl..
From the latter are made billiard balls
and the most beautifully carved articles
for the toilet and the writing desk.
From the coarser paris are made poker
chips. huttc!:s and 4 h:lr,irci small az
tcles. Every l:ai; nf Tie t,,si: Is put TO
use. Even ,i;c c:i:is III .avdrst arc
converted irro iy;:.y black by bIrliins.
New York Sun.