IVORY CARVINGS 85 



of close application and a thorough study of the elephant, 

 he nevertheless succeeded in producing some of the best 

 and most lifelike carvings of the animal that have ever 

 been executed. A striking merit in his work is its high de- 

 gree of originality, for no two elephant figures from his 

 hand are alike. His work is limited in quantity as he has 

 in all executed but six groups, for while his ivory carving 

 proved an artistic success, it failed as a curative agent for 

 nervous ills, the close application causing insomnia and 

 obliging an abandonment of the very promising career. 



These carvings are especially interesting as they are cut 

 out of a full section of a perfect tusk, which the slightest 

 imperfection or the least error would have spoiled, and they 

 are more realistic and unstrained in action than any Japanese 

 groups. 



The adoption, in the eighteenth century, of ivory as 

 the favourite, indeed almost the exclusive material for 

 miniature painting, did much to render the miniatures of 

 this century the beautiful works of art they are. So soft 

 and smooth are the tones of the best material that as great 

 a master in this art as Cosway frequently left parts of his 

 figures entirely uncovered by the brush, depending alto- 

 gether upon the delicate tones of the ivory to represent the 

 hue of the skin.* 



Indeed, for miniature painting ivory is preeminently 

 adapted, the colours applied to its smooth surface blending 

 softly and tenderly. This quality was fully appreciated by 

 the masters of the art of miniature painting such as the Eng- 

 lishman Richard Cosway (1742-1821) and John Smart 

 (1741-1811) and the Frenchmen Augustin (1729-1832) and 

 Isabey (1767-1855), as well as by our own Malbone (1777- 

 1807) and Baer, only to mention a very few of those who 

 have cultivated this art. 



*George C. Williamson, "How to Identify Portrait Miniatures," London, 1905, p. 37. 



