88 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



colouring to vitiate or decompose and, in consequence, 

 miniatures that have had good care are as fresh in their 

 pristine colouring as when painted two hundred years ago. 

 Lest we overlook an obvious point, miniatures on ivory are 

 all painted in water-colours — they will wash off readily. 

 Should there be an old miniature in your possession that 

 looks soiled, it may be cleaned with a soft and gritless rubber. 

 Most commercial rubbers are charged with pumice or other 

 cutting powder. There is no cleaner quite so wonderful for 

 all general purposes as pure rubber that is some five or more 

 years old; any expert will verify this. Biting into a rub- 

 ber is the test for pumice. The so-called ink erasers are 

 heavily filled with grit. A new rubber called "art gum" 

 is now obtainable at all art material dealers, and is an excel- 

 lent soft eraser and cleaner. 



The largest ivory of longitudinal diametrical cut the 

 writer has seen is 5| by 13 in. oblong.* Larger cuttings 

 have been made by cylindrical cutting — such ivory flattened 

 never loses its tendency to regain its original shape, and 

 in consequence can only be used when mounted solidly with 

 moisture-proof glue or cement. 



MINIATURE PAINTING AS AN ART 



There is no secret or trick in the art of miniature painting. 

 Most of our ablest painters have acquired their art unaided 

 apart from their previous study of drawing and painting. 

 The work requires good eyesight, and in advanced years one 

 requires both spectacles and magnifying glasses. However, 

 it is not a matter of art to paint small miniatures, nor is it a 

 recommendation to paint detail for its own sake. A highly 

 elaborated miniature may be devoid of art or it may be a 

 masterpiece. Excepting Holbein, there is no miniature 

 painter that has mastered detail without losing charm to 



*One half of it was used in his "Arcadia." by W. J. Baer. 



