Ivory corpora Croziers, the hooked staffs carried by abbots and bishops as a symbol of their pastoral office, had often been made of ivory and ivory substitutes since the early Christian era. Abbots and bishops in the Gothic era continued this tradition. A particularly fine example from the mid-fourteenth century Devotional Objects Just as private Christian devotions often emulated communal liturgy , objects designed to enhance private prayer were frequently modeled on works of religious art.
Most characteristic of this pattern are ivory polyptychs that seem to echo larger ivory statuettes in metalwork tabernacles in churches. Polyptychs Hinged side panels with low-relief carvings usually depict complementary scenes from the Infancy of Christ. In a multipurpose space such as the bedchamber, the physical opening and closing of the polyptych allows the owner to demark sacred from secular time. In making the first Gothic diptychs The folding-model of devotional object proved so popular and so effective at encouraging devotional prayer that innovations on the diptych format were tried.
The rare quadriptych form Similarly, devotional booklets Secular Ivories When elephant ivory was scarce and expensive, walrus tusks were frequently used as a substitute and their narrow form was ideally suited to making gaming pieces.
Ranging from relatively simple to more elaborate figurations Because the supply of walrus ivory was relatively continuous in northern Europe throughout the Middle Ages, the forms of gaming pieces are fairly consistent across the period that sees radical shifts in other areas of ivory carving. When the availability of ivory increased at the turn of the fourteenth century, it became feasible for everyday objects to be made out of the material. Ivory mirrors Also popular were ivory caskets The ivory boxes were probably originally given as emblems of affection and were used to store love tokens or jewels.
The inventory of Clemence of Hungary, queen of France, conducted following her death in , includes an ivory box with images, a comb and mirror set, and a chess set as well as statuettes of saints. Late Devotional Diptychs The effectiveness and popularity of devotional diptychs promoted their continued production.
In Paris, there was a turn to mass production of devotional diptychs, of both high and middling quality. One extremely popular luxury format was that of the Large Passion diptychs African elephants are the largest land mammals in the world and can be found in 37 countries across the African continent. There are two subspecies: African savannah elephants which are found in eastern and southern African nations such as Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe and African forest elephants, which are more prevalent in the dense rainforests of the central and western part of the continent.
Both male and female African elephants have tusks, while, comparatively, only some male Asian elephants have tusks. Elephants use their tusks for maneuvering, fighting, and foraging, including digging for roots and stripping bark from trees.
In addition to tusks, elephants also have molar teeth for tearing and chewing food. Tusks and teeth are composed of the same materials—mainly mineralized tissue known as dentine and cementum. Teeth, however, are usually covered with a hard layer of enamel, while enamel on tusks is found only at the tips, if at all.
At the base or root end of the tusk is the pulp cavity, a cone-shaped void filled with soft tissue that extends about one-third of the way into the interior of the tusk. Dentine layers are produced annually, similar to the growth of tree rings. African elephant tusks can be up to 10 feet long three meters and weigh up to pounds 90 kilograms , although most tusks of elephants living today are smaller.
In much the same way that humans are right- or left-handed, elephants can be either right- or left-tusked, and their dominant tusk is usually smaller from wear.
Elephant ivory has been considered a valued luxury material across cultures and continents for millennia. Ivory artifacts have been found on archaeological sites in Africa, Asia, and Europe, providing evidence of widespread trading. Prized for its beauty and usefulness, ivory is durable, relatively easy to carve in fine detail, and has a smooth, lustrous appearance. In comparison to teeth or tusks from other animals, elephant ivory has been favored because of its large size and homogenous appearance.
Ivory can be sawed, carved, engraved, turned on a lathe, and polished to a high shine. It can also be bleached, stained with dyes and colorants, or painted. It is important to note that this historical use of ivory in Africa was limited, generally reserved for individuals of high status and did not put elephant populations at risk.
These animals were seen as powerful and dangerous, and owning ivory was a status marker. Ivory topped staffs, such as those made by Kongo and Attie carvers, were carried as symbols of authority and wealth.
Before the widespread use of guns and electric carving tools, elephant hunting and ivory carving were specialized occupations. Within the Benin kingdom, elephant hunting and the distribution of its meat were regulated by the oba king. For every elephant killed, one tusk belonged to the king and one could be sold. Ivory was traded widely from the 15th through the 19th centuries and was prized as a luxury item not only in Africa but throughout Europe and other parts of the world.
Ivory carvings were also commissioned by foreign kings. The carved hunting horn made in the late 15th century by a Bullom or Temne artist was given as a gift by Prince Manuel of Portugal to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. With increased trade, carvers not only made items for local use but also made souvenirs for sale to foreigners.
Ivory was also exported as a raw material, and became popular for mass-produced objects such as piano keys, billiard balls, knife handles, jewelry, and other novelties. Beginning in the 20th century, the quality and applications of plastics replaced many of the utilitarian functions of ivory.
However, the international demand for ivory has continued to increase. Today, elephants are hunted at rates higher than in which they can naturally reproduce. The contemporary demand for ivory has been compared to that of diamonds, in that they are both natural materials with little inherent value but their culturally constructed value, as a status symbol, is high.
Similarly, the demand for both materials in wealthy parts of the world causes violence and destruction in the areas where these natural materials are found. Currently the country with the highest demand for ivory is China, followed by Japan, Thailand, and the United States.
The goals of recently publicized ivory crush-and-burn events, aside from removing ivory from the market, are to reverse the idea of ivory as a status symbol and shrink its market value, in an effort to decrease demand and illegal hunting.
With increased human populations and activities such as land development, infrastructure construction, logging, and mining, elephants are losing their habitats and facing declining populations. The greatest threat, by far to elephants today however, is poaching illegal killing , spurred by the global demand for ivory. Unlike deer that shed and regrow their antlers yearly, elephants do not shed their tusks; they must be killed or severely injured to harvest their ivory.
The high point of the African ivory trade was from the 15th through the 19th centuries, and expanded to Europe, the Arab world and beyond.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, increasing demand for ivory piano keys, billiard balls and luxury items led to the precipitous decline in the elephant population. Since the s, conservation groups and governments have implemented regulations to protect the endangered species.
What would the ramifications have been? The comparison to diamonds is commonly made: Diamonds, like ivory, are a natural substance with little inherent value but prized social significance.
Desire in richer lands tumbles poorer societies into resource wars and labor abuse. And certainly the modern dynamics are the same. But demand for ivory is something demand for diamonds is not: ancient. And its history as a technology, a material with few peers for centuries, propels this demand even today. Diamonds, as a cultural symbol, are an invention of the 20th century , the result of a collaboration between Mad Men and De Beers.
Ivory, in contrast, has been used and valued for millennia. Specimens from this period are today in museums around the world.
But ivory wasn't solely prized for its aesthetic value. Ivory's properties -- durability, the ease with which it can be carved, and its absence of splintering -- uniquely suited it for a variety of uses.
0コメント