Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1893-06-13
IVORY AND ITS USES.
WHY CARVED ORNAMENTS IN IVORY
ARE VERY EXPENSIVE.

/
'"ere Are Few Expert Workers I'm Ivorv
IN rms S"nntry--The Price Of Eiep,,aus :.
iushs Has Not Greatly Changed In Re.
cent years--A Costly Luxury.
when Whitelaw Reid was in search If
workman to decorate apartments at
ophir Farm with rich and beautiful an.
tiques brought over from Europe he
FOUND that there was but one man in
America who could do such work and
ne lay sick. Had Mr.. Reid been in search
OF skilled ivory carvers he would have
Iound them almost as scarce. There arr.
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 maid
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 in a
hlgn degree OF perfection among the
Italians for centuries The most famous
ivory carver living. however, is French
man, Moreau Vauthier. Few of his
masterpieces have been seen in America.
though two were sold ut the famous
Morgan art sale of few years ago, and
two more. held at Il great price, are now
In the possession of noted American
jeweler.
The ivory carvers of this country do
in, T.
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 trifle 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 tusk. The labor cost Of
billiard balls is triling. as they are
turned by machinery and rapidly. Thus
1t often happens that single small arti-
Gle richly stained and carved. will cost
five times as much az IA billiard ball con
tanning ten times the weight of ivory.
The carvers of ivory use much the same
tools us the wood carvers, but of hghter
and more delicate make. Til. work il
extremely tedious and laborious.
The carving is usually done in low re-
lief, and the subjects are such as are
suitable to this northumberland de-
signs in delicate curves. the 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. so as to
bring ont 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 q
secret guarded well by the carvers.
Some notion Of the cost of ivory cary
ing may be had from the fact that. while
a hand mirror framed in plain ivory may
be had for ten or twelve dollars. II mir
ror in carved ivory may cost 500 or
more. The small articles in carvel
ivory cost from five to twenty-five dol
lars, and IA toilet set in that material
may fetch as high as 500. The Ameri-
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 few months Of use upon
this side of the Atlantic. The American
manufacturers have hit upon the expe-
dent of leaving Il space between glass
and frame i'll 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 one of
the largest tusks ever seen in this mar
. -. ..., ~. l. A.. l.
Ret-1hal OF sacred Last lnui''h ele-
phahl--has just oee'i nlouil'eu III oi1e N,
TAI sIyle as il trophy Vi Tue eli''se, me
tnSN measures more thln SIX ieet III
ie'iSth ana te'"lhS tie 'liarhS 1t pore " men
worn by the sacred beast to which it be-
longed Thanks to the predatory and
muraerons INDUSTRY OF llppu no ana
MS oIack Aa'i4lnarIS inc supply Q, ivory
HIS Kept pace with the increased demand