The Chinese, from time immemorial, have been celebrated for their
excellence in the fabrication of ornamental articles in ivory; and,
strange to say, up to our own time, their productions are still
unrivalled. European artists have never succeeded in cutting ivory
after the manner of these people, nor, to all appearance, is it likely
they ever will. Nothing can be more exquisitely beautiful than the
delicate lacework of a Chinese fan, or the elaborate carving of their
miniature junks, chess-pieces, and concentric balls: their models of
temples, pagodas, and other pieces of architecture are likewise
skilfully constructed; and yet three thousand years ago such monuments
of art were executed with the very same grace and fidelity!
Ivory was known to the Egyptians as an article both of use and
ornament. They manufactured it into combs, rings, and a variety of
similar things. The processions on the walls of their palaces and
tombs would seem to indicate the fact of its having been obtained from
India, and also from Ethiopia or Central Africa. There is every reason
to believe also that the harder and more accessible ivory of the
hippopotamus was extensively used by them. Colonel Hamilton Smith has
seen a specimen of what appeared to be a sword-handle of ancient
Egyptian workmanship, which has been recognised by dentists as
belonging to this class of ivory.
Ivory was extensively used by the Jews. It is frequently spoken of in
Scripture as being obtained from Tarshish--an indiscriminate term for
various places in the lands of the Gentiles, but probably referring in
this case to some part of India or Eastern Africa. Wardrobes were made
of ivory, or at least inlaid with it; the splendid throne of Solomon
was formed of this material, overlaid with gold; Ahab built an ivory
palace: and beds or couches of the same material were common among the
wealthy Israelites. The Phoenicians of Tyre--those merchant-princes of
antiquity--were so profuse of this valuable article of their luxurious
commerce as to provide ivory benches for the rowers of their galleys.
Assyria--whose records and history are only now beginning to be
unfolded--possessed magnificent articles of ivory. Mr Layard, in his
excavations at Nineveh, found 'in the rubbish near the bottom of a
chamber, several ivory ornaments upon which were traces of gilding:
among them was the figure of a man in long robes, carrying in one hand
the Egyptian _crux ansata_--part of a crouching sphinx--and flowers
designed with great taste and elegance.'
The Greeks--who were acquainted with it at least as early as the time
of Homer--gradually introduced ivory as a material for sculpture. In
certain forms of combination with gold, it gave origin to the art of
_chryselephantine_ sculpture, so called from the Greek primitives,
gold and ivory. This art, which was perhaps more luxurious than
tasteful, was introduced about six hundred years before the Christian
era; and it was much admired for its singular beauty. It was not,
however, till the days of Phidias that it attained to its full
splendour. Two of the masterpieces of this sculptor--the colossal
statues of Minerva in the Parthenon at Athens and the Olympian Jove in
his temple--were formed of gold and ivory. The Minerva was forty feet
high, and the Olympian Jupiter was one of the wonders of the world. In
the latter of these, the exposed parts of the figure were of ivory,
and the drapery of gold. It was seated on a throne elaborately formed
of gold, ivory, and cedar-wood; it was adorned with precious stones;
and in his hand the god sustained an emblematic figure of Victory,
made of the same costly materials.
The Romans used ivory as a symbol of power; but they applied it
practically to an infinite variety of purposes. Their kings and
magistrates sat on ivory thrones of rich and elaborate
construction--an idea received from the Etruscans. The curule chairs
of ivory and gold that belonged to the office of consul, together with
the sceptres and other articles of similar description, were all of
Etruscan origin. The _libri elephantis_ were tablets of ivory, on
which were registered the transactions of the senate and magistrates;
the births, marriages, and deaths of the people; their rank, class,
and occupation, with other things pertaining to the census. The Romans
also applied this material to the manufacture of musical instruments,
combs, couches, harnesses of horses, sword-hilts, girdles. They were
acquainted with the arts of dyeing and incrusting ivory, and they also
possessed some splendid specimens of chryselephantine statuary.
Ancient writers, indeed, mention no fewer than one hundred statues of
gold and ivory; but they furnish us with no particulars of the mode of
executing these colossal monuments of art in a substance which could
only be obtained in small pieces. A head, smaller than the usual size,
a statue about eight inches in height, and a bas-relief, are the only
specimens that exist in the present day.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the taste for ivory ornament
became almost extinct. There were some periods, however, in the early
part of mediæval history when this material was not forgotten: when
the caliphs of the East formed of it some of the beautiful ornaments
of their palaces; when the Arabian alchemists subjected it to the
crucible, and so produced the pigment ivory black; when a Danish
knight killed an elephant in the holy wars, and established an order
of knighthood which still exists; when Charlemagne, the emperor of the
West, had ivory ornaments of rare and curious carving.[3] It is,
however, at a period subsequent to the return of the crusaders that we
must date the commencement of a general revival of the taste in
Europe. It would be interesting to trace the steps by which ivory
regained its place in the arts and commerce of nations; but on this
point we must not linger. From the low countries it spread to the far
North. Its relations with art and beauty soon became widely
recognised; the growing luxury of the Roman pontificate encouraged its
applications; and towards the end of the fifteenth century it was
extensively employed as an article of ornament and decoration in every
country and court of Europe. The Portuguese were the first to revive a
traffic with Africa which had been dormant for upwards of 1000 years.
It was originally confined to the immense stores of ivory which the
natives had accumulated for the purposes of their superstition; but
these soon became exhausted, and the inexorable demands of European
commerce once more prompted the destruction of the mighty and docile
inhabitant of the wilderness. Elephant-hunting became a trade; and a
terrible havoc was commenced, which has been unremittingly pursued
down to the present time.
The term ivory, originally derived from a Greek word signifying heavy,
is indiscriminately applied to the following varieties of osseous
matter:--
1. _The tusks and teeth of the elephant_.--Naturalists recognise two
species of elephants--the Asiatic (_Elephas Indicus_) and the African
(_Elephas Africanus_.) The former of these species is indigenous to
the whole of Southern India and the Eastern Archipelago; but the
largest and most valuable Indian elephant is that of Ceylon. The
second species is found throughout the whole of Africa; and on the
banks of the great rivers and lakes of the unexplored regions of the
interior, hordes of the finest African elephants are supposed to
wander in security. It was until very recently believed that the
Asiatic elephant yielded the largest teeth, and those imported from
Pegu, Cochin-China, and Ceylon, sometimes weighed 150 lbs. Specimens,
however, have been obtained from the interior of Africa of much
greater weight and dimensions. Mr Gordon Cumming has in his collection
a pair of teeth taken from an old bull elephant in the vicinity of the
equator, of which the larger of the two measures 10 feet 9 inches
long, and weighs 173 lbs.; and Mr Cawood, who resided thirty years at
the Cape, has another pair in his possession measuring 8-1/2 feet
each, and weighing together 330 lbs.
Besides these contemporary races of elephants, the market is
extensively supplied by the fossil ivory derived from the tusks of the
great mammoth or fossil elephant of the geologist. The remains of this
gigantic animal are abundantly distributed over the whole extent of
the globe. They exist in large masses in the northern hemisphere,
deeply embedded in the alluvial deposits of the tertiary period.
Humboldt discovered specimens on some of the most elevated ridges of
the Andes; and similar remains have been found in Africa. In the
frozen regions of the far North, surrounded by successive layers of
everlasting ice, the fossil ivory exists in a state of perfect
preservation, and it constitutes indeed an important article of
commerce in the north of Europe.
2. _The teeth of the hippopotamus, or river-horse_.--These, under the
inappropriate term of 'sea-horse teeth,' supply the most suitable
ivory for the dentist. In addition to twenty grinders, the animal has
twelve front teeth, the outer on each side of the jaw being the
largest and most prized. This ivory is much harder, closer in the
grain, and more valuable than that of the elephant. It is remarkable,
moreover, for the extreme hardness of its enamel, which is quite
incapable of being cut, and will strike fire with a steel instrument.
The large teeth of the hippopotamus weigh on the average 6 lbs., and
the small ones about 1 lb. each. Their value ranges from 6s. to 40s.
per lb.
3. _The teeth of the walrus, or sea-cow_.--These are nearly straight,
and measure from 2 feet to 2-1/2 feet in length. The exterior portion
of the tooth possesses a much finer grain and texture than its core,
which in appearance and properties bears a close resemblance to
ordinary bone. Of a yellowish cream-colour and mottled, this ivory is
much less valuable than the teeth of the hippopotamus. It is seldom
applied in our day to other than dental purposes; but its antiquity is
interesting. The Scandinavian relics of the eleventh and twelfth
centuries, with which our museums are so profusely enriched, are for
the most part formed of the teeth of the walrus. The elegant spiral
horn of the narwhal or sea-unicorn also produces ivory of a superior
quality. It is not to any great extent applied to useful purposes, but
is more frequently preserved in museums and collections as a beautiful
natural curiosity.
The tusks and teeth of the elephant--the latter, for the sake of
distinction, are termed grinders--are formed after the ordinary manner
of the teeth of animals. The organism which converts the earthy
constituents of the blood into cellular tissue and membrane,
contributes in the same way to form the teeth by the successive
deposition of layer upon layer of the soft vascular pulp. The marks of
these depositions, or laminæ, are clearly distinguishable in the
longitudinal striæ of the section of a tooth. Mr Corse Scott states
that the Indian elephant has only ten or twelve laminæ in the tooth,
while that of the great mammoth has twenty-four, besides having a much
more regularly disposed enamel. The tooth is hollow about half-way up,
but a very small tubular cavity is visible throughout its entire
length. This, sometimes called the nerve, is in reality the apex of
successive formations in the process of growth. The grinders are
seldom used in the arts. They are of a different texture, the laminæ
more loosely combined, and possessing a tendency to separate, which
renders them unfit for nearly all useful purposes. Ivory has the same
chemical constitution as ordinary teeth--that is, cartilage united to
such earthy ingredients as the phosphate of lime.
But it is very remarkable that the fossil ivory of the mammoth, and
specimens of the historic period of Pompeii or Egypt, contain
sometimes as much as 10 per cent. more of fluoride of calcium than the
ivory of the present day. We apprehend, however, that this
property--first investigated by Dr George Wilson--may be derived from
long-continued contact with earth, since fluoride of calcium is the
chief ingredient in the enamel or exterior portion of the tooth.
Ancient ivory, having thus gained in its inorganic bases, becomes
deficient in the gelatinous constituents necessary to its
preservation. We recently had a singularly beautiful application of
the knowledge of this principle in the case of the ivory specimens
sent from Nineveh by Mr Layard. On their arrival in England, it was
discovered that they were rapidly crumbling to pieces. Professor Owen
recommended that the articles should be boiled in a solution of
albumen, which was done accordingly, and the ivory rendered as firm
and solid as when it was first entombed.
We may allude here to a very singular physical property which is
possessed by the elephant's tusk. Specimens have frequently been
obtained which were found to contain musket-bullets in their centre,
surrounded with a species of osseous pulp differing from the ordinary
character and constitution of ivory. There was frequently no
corresponding orifice on the surface of the tusk; and hence
Blumenbach, and other naturalists, were led to form some very
inaccurate notions regarding this circumstance. Mr Rodgers of
Sheffield some years ago forwarded a variety of such specimens to the
Edinburgh College Museum, and these were very closely examined by
Professor Goodsir, who, in a communication to the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, demonstrated that this arose simply from a property of
isolating foreign substances common to all osseous organised bodies:
the ball having been enclosed by the tusk in its pulpy secretion, and
corrosive action thereby prevented, the process of growth continued
without interruption.
Ivory is a solid, white, translucent substance, distinguishable from
bone by its beautiful texture of semi-transparent rhomboidal network.
The finest ivory is much more transparent than paper of the same
thickness. A thin transverse section placed under the microscope
exhibits a series of curvilinear lines diverging from the centre and
interlacing each other with great regularity and beauty, closely
resembling in appearance the engine-turning of a watch. It possesses a
specific gravity varying from 1.888 in the tooth of the walrus, to
2.843 in that of the elephant. Its mean gravity is therefore about two
and a half times greater than water. The best, finest, and most
valuable ivory is that obtained from the African elephant. When
recently cut, it exhibits something of a yellowish transparent tint,
which is due to the oil it contains, but this gradually changes to a
beautiful and permanent white. It is not easily stained or destroyed
by exposure to the atmosphere, and on that account is used in the arts
for all the higher purposes, and especially for carved ornaments--such
as chess-pieces, crucifixes, and articles of _virtu_. Indian ivory, on
the contrary, when first cut, is perfectly white, but it becomes
yellow and discoloured with age and exposure. A good illustration of
this circumstance is presented by the dingy-coloured keys of an old
pianoforte.
This popular definition of good and inferior ivory is however, in
point of fact, somewhat incorrect, since ivory obtained from the coast
of Africa is often much inferior to that obtained from the Indian
Archipelago. The best rule for determining the quality is probably
that of its vicinity to the equator. The ivory brought from within the
10th degrees of north and south latitude is incomparably the finest in
the market; it is at the same time the most transparent, which of
itself is a valuable characteristic. Our Indian ivory for some years
back, instead of being shipped by way of the Cape for England, has, in
order to save time, been sent by the Red Sea to Suez, and thence
conveyed, generally on the backs of camels, across the Desert to
Alexandria, where it is again shipped on board the Oriental
steam-packets for Southampton, and conveyed by railway to London. By
this expeditious mode of transit, however, the value of the ivory is
frequently much deteriorated. The damage it sustains in being so often
loaded and unloaded; and the intense heat of a tropical sun to which
it is openly exposed in crossing the Isthmus--render the tusks unsound
at the core, numerous cracks and fissures appear over the surface, the
points are frequently broken off, and on the whole its market-price is
considerably depreciated.
There is no means of accurately determining the intrinsic value of our
importation of ivory--the price is so variable. In 1827, upwards of
3000 cwt.; in 1842, upwards of 5000 cwt.; and in 1850, about 8000 cwt.
was imported, of which about four-fifths was entered for home
consumption. In point of quantity or bulk it is not calculated to
attract attention, nor does the commercial transaction excite much
notice. A quiet advertisement in the front page of the _Economist_, a
few letters from London, Birmingham, and Sheffield to City
brokers--for the ivory-trade is confined to a very small number of
houses--and a cargo of African or Indian ivory, amounting perhaps to
L.50,000 sterling, is quickly and easily disposed of. The supply at
this moment is unequal to the demand, and the price is steadily
advancing.
Small teeth weighing from 4 to 20 lbs. are worth from L.10 to L.16 per
cwt.; and the price of the enormous tusks we have referred to, which
are far beyond the limits of the above scale, is probably equal to
L.50 per cwt. or upwards. African is worth about 25 per cent. more
than Indian ivory of corresponding size and quality.
To attempt even to catalogue the extremely diversified uses to which
ivory is applied would of itself be no easy task. There is not perhaps
in the whole commercial list an article possessed of wider relations.
It is extensively consumed in the manufacture of handles to knives and
forks, and cutlery of every description; combs of all kinds; brushes
of every form and use; billiard-balls, chess-men, dice, dice-boxes;
bracelets, necklaces, rings, brooches; slabs for miniature portraits,
pocket-tablets, card-cases; paper-knives, shoeing-horns, large spoons
and forks for salad; ornamental work-boxes, jewel-caskets, small
inlaid tables; furniture for doors and cabinets; pianoforte and organ
keys; stethoscopes, lancet-cases, and surgical instruments;
microscopes, lorgnettes, and philosophical instruments; thermometer
scales, hydrometer scales, and mathematical instruments; snuff-boxes,
cigar-cases, pipe-tubes; fans, flowers, fancy boxes; crucifixes,
crosiers, and symbols of faith; idols, gods, and symbols of
superstition; vases, urns, sarcophagi, and emblems of the dead;
temples, pagodas; thrones, emblems of mythology; and, in short, there
is hardly a purpose in the useful and ornamental arts to which ivory
is, or has not been in some way extensively employed. At present, the
ivory carvings of Dieppe are the finest in Europe; but the genius of
the present age is utilitarian, and so are its applications of ivory.
If we desire high art in the fabrication of this material, we must go
back a few centuries, or be satisfied with the beautiful productions
of China or Hindostan. We could scarcely give a more apt illustration
of this truth than by pointing to the scat of honour set apart for
Prince Albert in the closing scene of the Great Exhibition. Elevated
on the crimson platform, and standing forth as an appropriate emblem
of the artistic genius of the mighty collection, was observed the
magnificent ivory throne presented to her Majesty by the Rajah of
Travancore!
From the great value of the material, the economical cutting of it up
is of the last importance. Nothing is lost. The smallest fragments are
of some value, have certain uses, and bear a corresponding price.
Ivory dust, which is produced in large quantities, is a most valuable
gelatine, and as such extensively employed by straw-hat makers. The
greatest consumption of ivory is undoubtedly in connection with the
cutlery trade. For these purposes alone about 200 tons are annually
used in Sheffield and Birmingham, and the ivory in nearly every
instance is from India. The mode of manufacturing knife-handles is
very simple and expeditious:--The teeth are first cut into slabs of
the requisite thickness--then to the proper cross dimensions, by means
of circular saws of different shapes. They are afterwards drilled with
great accuracy by a machine; rivetted to the blade; and finally
smoothed and polished. We believe that this branch of industry alone
gives employment to about 500 persons in Sheffield. Combs are seldom
made of any ivory but Indian, and their mode of manufacture we had
recently occasion to describe.[4] A large amount of ivory is consumed
in the backs of hairbrushes; and this branch of the trade has recently
undergone considerable improvements. The old method of making a
tooth-brush, for example, was to lace the bristles through the ivory,
and then to glue, or otherwise fasten, an outside slab to the brush
for the purpose of concealing the holes and wire-thread. This mode of
manufacture has been improved on by a method of working the hair into
the solid ivory; and brushes of this description are now the best in
the market. Their chief excellence consists in their preserving their
original white colour to the last, which is a great desideratum.
Billiard-balls constitute another considerable item of ivory
consumption. They cost from 6s. to 12s. each; and the nicety of our
ornamental turning produces balls not only of the most perfect
spherical form, but accurately corresponding in size and weight even
to a single grain.
The ivory miniature tablets so much in use, and which are so
invaluable to the artist from the exquisitely delicate texture of the
material, are now produced by means of a very beautiful and highly
interesting chemical process. Phosphoric acid of the usual specific
gravity renders ivory soft and nearly plastic. The plates are cut from
the circumference of the tusk, somewhat after the manner of paring a
cucumber, and then softened by means of the acid. When washed with
water, pressed, and dried, the ivory regains its former consistency,
and even its microscopic structure is not affected by the process.
Plates thirty inches square have been formed in this way, and a great
reduction in price has thus been effected. Painting on ivory, we may
add, was practised among the ancients.
Mr M'Culloch and other statistical writers predict the speedy
extinction of the elephant, from the enormous consumption of its
teeth; and curious calculations of the number of these animals
annually extirpated to supply the English market alone are now getting
somewhat popular. For example: 'in 1827 the customs-duty on ivory
(20s. per cwt.--since reduced to 1s.) amounted to L.3257. The average
weight of the elephant's tusk is 60 lbs.; and therefore 3040 elephants
have been killed to supply this quantity of ivory.' But these
calculations are in many respects quite fallacious. In the first
place, the average weight of our imported tusks is _not_ 60 lbs.: we
have the authority of one of the first ivory-merchants in London for
stating that 20 lbs. will be a much closer approximation. This at once
involves a threefold ratio of destruction. In place of 3040, we should
have the terrible slaughter of 9120 elephants for one year's
consumption of ivory in England! This, however, is not the case. In
these calculations the immense masses of fossil ivory we have alluded
to are obviously overlooked, and the equally immense quantities of
broken teeth which are disinterred from the deserts of Arabia, or the
jungles of Central Africa. The truth is, we have good reason to know,
that a very large proportion of the commercial supply of Europe is
sustained from the almost inexhaustible store of these descriptions of
ivory.
Nevertheless, it is indisputable that the insatiable demands of modern
commerce will inevitably lead to the ultimate extermination of this
noble animal. His venerable career is ignominiously brought to an end
merely for the sake of the two teeth he carries in his mouth; which
are very likely destined to be cut into rings to assist the infant
Anglo-Saxons in cutting _their_ teeth, or partly made into jelly to
satisfy the tastes and appetites of a London alderman. We cannot
reasonably hope for a new suspension of the traffic: indeed we can
only look for its extension. The luxurious tastes of man are inimical
to the existence of the elephant. From time immemorial, the war of
extermination has existed. His rightful domain--in the plain or the
wilderness, or amid the wild herbage of his native savannas--is at all
points ruthlessly invaded. But the result is inevitable--it will come
to an end; and some future generation of naturalists--those of them at
least who are curious in Palæontology--will regard the remains of our
contemporary races of elephants with the same kind of astonishment
with which we investigate the pre-historic evidences of the gigantic
tapir or the mammoth.
* * * * *
[Footnote 3: In the sacristy of the cathedral at Aix-la-Châpelle is
still preserved, among other relics of this great prince, an immense
ivory hunting-horn; and 'Charlemagne's chess-men,' which still exist,
form part of the collection of works of art at Cologne.]
[Footnote 4: See an article on the Aberdeen Combworks, No. 396.]