76 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



The ivory carvings of the late Moreau-Vauthier, many of 

 which are in this country, may be regarded as representing 

 the height of this art as practised in our day. Although a 

 number of artists have done very praiseworthy work in this 

 department within the past half-century or so, Moreau- 

 Vauthier had at once so much originality, such a thorough 

 understanding of the potentialities of his material, and such 

 an appreciation of the best traditions of the art of ivory 

 carving, that his works may be said to stand in a class by 

 themselves. 



At an exposition of art for children recently held in the 

 Museum of Modern Art, in the Rue Pierre Charron, Paris, 

 some very pretty ivory trinkets were displayed. One of 

 these was an ivory ring bearing a row of little silver bells 

 with forms of angels in repousse work, most appropriate to 

 childhood, as this age is more especially that during which 

 the Guardian Angel's care is most needed and merited. 

 Some pretty little ivory napkin rings with a pierced silver 

 band were also shown in this exhibition. 



A fine collection of Congo ivory work is contained in the 

 Musee du Congo, or Musee de Tervueren, as it is sometimes 

 called, situated in a suburb of Brussels. It is built upon the 

 site of the royal Chateau of Tervueren which was destroyed 

 by fire some years ago. At the time of the Brussels Exposi- 

 tion of 1897 a small building was erected on this site to con- 

 tain exhibits illustrating the Congo region, and in 1904 the 

 present imposing structure was begun and it was finally 

 completed and opened to the public in 1909. During the 

 first three and a half months after the opening it was visited 

 by 182,500 persons, including 16,000 school children under 

 the guidance of their teachers. The revival of chryselephan- 

 tine sculpture, that blending of gold and ivory to which some 

 of the grandest works of Greek art owed much of their beauty, 

 is attributed to the abundant supply of ivory derived from 



