The age-herald., 1902-02-26
CARVED IVORY IS COSTLY.
interesting Facts About the Work of
 a Scanitly Manned Trade.

From the Kansas City Times.
 Probably there are not dozen ivory carvers of approved skill in all this coun- try, though the work brings very high wages. The men who do such work are Frenchmen, Germans and Italians. Of the three the Italians are the most skilful since ivory carving has been an art in a high degree of perfection among the Ital- ians for centuries.
 The ivory carvers of this country do lit- tie or nothing in the East Indian or Japanese manner, nor do they occupy themselves with figure work. Their chief employment Is in producing decora- tive toilet and stationery articles. The taste for stained and carved Ivory Is of recent growth in the United States, and the demand for such articles Is not large as they are more costly then the same articles in silver would be.
 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 trifiing, as they are turned by machin- cry, and rapidly. Thus 1t often happens that a single small article, richly stained and carved, will cost five times as much
 
 weight of ivory. The carvers of ivory use much the same tools as the wood carvers, but of lighter and more delicate make
 The work is extremely tedious and la borious. The carving is usually done in low relief. and the subjects are such as are suitable to this treatment-Persia designs in delicate curves, the cactus with some varieties of palms, and hints (at tIer1ff from IL. but artistic carvings of the Alaskan In dians. The ivory is stained slightly SO as to bring out the design. The art of staining ivory Is a secret guarded well by the carvers.
 Some idea of the cost of ivory carving may be had from the fact that while a hand mirror framed in plain ivory may be had for $10 or SIP, a mirror in carved ivory may cost $1O0 or more The small articles in carved ivory cost from S5 to $25 and a toilet set in that material may bring as much as $500. The American climate, with its extremes of heat and cold, is very trying upon ivory. and ivory-backed mir TOTS Of European manufacture almost in- variably crack across the back after few months of use upon this side of the Atlantic. The American manufactures 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 Uni ted States Is bought in the great London market, where the price is knocked about by bulls and bears, who corner ivory as they corner wheat and corn. African, rather than Asiatic, ivory Is brought to this country. Few tusks of more than five feet in length come, and many are less than Tour feet long. Many of the tusks reacn here after having been buried in Africa for years, to save them from lnievisn enemies of the savage owners. avery tusk must go through process or seasoning long or short, according as the process Is natural or artificial. befora It IS made up into articles of ornament or use. 1t Is difficult to obtain perfect diameter, as the upper end of inc trsi- which is the thickest. is hollow, and the material IS coarser than that in the solid part or the tusk. From the latter are made billiard balls and the most heartif,I carved articles for the toilet and the writ ing desk.