Pieces of walrus and elephant tusk, regarded as precious material by many societies throughout the world. Carved ivory ornaments, jewellery and religious objects were produced in China from about the 15th-c BC, and later by the Greeks and Romans in Europe. Most of the finest small-scale sculptures to survive from the mediaeval period are carved from ivory, and it continued to be widely used for luxury goods until modern concern for wildlife conservation strictly curtailed its supply.
Ivory is a hard, white, opaque substance that is the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth, narwhal, etc. The word "ivory" was traditionally applied to the tusks of elephants; Plastics have been viewed by piano purists as an inferior ivory substitute on piano keys, although other recently developed materials more closely resemble the feel of real ivory.
Structure
The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is the same regardless of the species of origin, and the trade in certain teeth and tusks other than elephant is well established and widespread. Therefore, "ivory" can correctly be used to describe any mammalian teeth or tusks of commercial interest which is large enough to be carved or scrimshawed.
Teeth and tusks
Teeth and tusks have the same origins.
Teeth and tusks have the same physical structures: pulp cavity, dentine, cementum and enamel. Dentine, which is the main component of carved ivory objects, forms a layer of consistent thickness around the pulp cavity and comprises the bulk of the tooth and tusk.
Ivory art in the ancient world
Paleolithic Cro-Magnon man, during the late stages of the ice age, were the first to carve in ivory (mammoth tusks). Both the Greek and Roman civilizations used large quantities of ivory to make high value works of art, precious religious objects, and decorative boxes for costly objects. The Syrian and North African elephant populations were reduced to extinction, probably due to the demand for ivory in the Classical world.
Tooth and tusk ivory can be carved into an almost infinite variety of shapes and objects. A small example of modern carved ivory objects are small statuary, netsukes, jewelry, flatware handles, furniture inlays, and piano keys.
Availability
Due to the rapid decline in the populations of the animals that produce it, the importation and sale of ivory in many countries is banned or severely restricted. Since the worldwide ivory trade ban in 1989 there have been ups and downs in elephant populations, and ivory trade as bans have been placed and lifted. Many African countries including Zimbabwe and South Africa claim that ivory trade is necessary—both to stimulate their economies and reduce elephant populations which are allegedly harming the environment. In 2002 the United Nations partially lifted the ban on ivory trade, allowing a few countries to export certain amounts of ivory.
Kenya, which saw its elephant populations plummet in the decade preceding the 1989 ban, claims that legalizing ivory trade anywhere in Africa will endanger elephants everywhere in Africa as poachers would attempt to launder their illegal ivory with legal stockpiles.
Trade in the ivory from the tusks of dead mammoths has occurred for 300 years and continues to be legal.
A species of hard nut is gaining popularity as a replacement for ivory, although its size limits its usability.
Types of ivory
Elephant and mammoth ivory from the tusks of bull elephants and mammoths. Walrus ivory from the tusks of a bull walrus. Sperm Whale and Killer Whale ivory Narwhal ivory Hippopotamus ivory Warthog ivory Elk Ivory from the bugling teeth of bull elk.So-called hornbill ivory, derived from a bird, is not true ivory but resembles it in some ways.
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