74 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



for only by the strong influence exerted by the observation 

 and study of ivory carvings at a time when any plastic 

 artist must have found pleasure, instruction, and inspiration 

 in contemplating them.* 



The origin of that branch of decorative art known to the 

 French as ebenisterie is to be sought in the adornment of 

 pieces of furniture or caskets by the insertion of plates of 

 ivory. This was much favoured in the seventeenth century, 

 ebony being the wood most prized for the framework of the 

 furniture or casket. Later on tin was employed in this way, 

 then tortoise shell, and finally woods of various colours were 

 given the preference. The somewhat funereal air of this 

 work in ebony and ivory is said to have led to its disuse. 

 To this may be added the costliness of the material and the 

 difficulty experienced in working it for this purpose. It 

 could not be chiselled into form, but had to be first sawed 

 out and then sculptured by the aid of the graver — a long and 

 delicate operation.! 



The adornment of articles of furniture with ivory inlays 

 has been practised from the most ancient times, an old 

 Assyrian text attesting this usage among the Assyrians. 

 In modern times we have still many excellent examples of 

 this art, one of the finest being a cabinet produced by the 

 Fratelli Stannard, Galleria Colonna, Rome, with an elab- 

 orate ornamentation of ivory plaques, most beautifully de- 

 signed and executed. 



The German schools of ivory carving at Geislingen and 

 Erbach are of much more recent origin than that of Dieppe 

 in France; indeed, it was not until well into the eighteenth 

 century that ivory was freely used here, the earlier work 



*Communicated by Mr. Charles de Kay, in an article about to appear in the Century 

 Magazine. 



fHenry Havard, " Dictionnaire de rameublement," Vol. Ill, Paris, n. d., cols. 65, 66. 

 Article Ivoire. 



