106 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



should have a better surface than it generally receives in the 

 Hushiarpur work."* 



Hushiarpur inlayers are said to have been employed by 

 Runjit Singh, the Lion of the Panjab, in the early part of 

 the last century for the decoration of some of the woodwork 

 in the Golden Temple at Amritsar, but on the whole this 

 industry did not flourish under native rule. Of late, however, 

 an active demand has arisen among Anglo-Indians and 

 travellers, resulting in a largely increased production and in 

 the exportation of this work in considerable quantity to 

 England and other parts of Europe as well as to America, 

 where it competes successfully with the best Chinese work 

 of the sort. These inlayers are able to utilize an inferior 

 quality of ivory, and also the fragments left over in the manu- 

 facture of bangles and other ornamental or useful objects, 

 so that their ivory costs them as little as from 4 cents to 

 80 cents a pound. If the supply of ivory runs short camel- 

 bone is occasionally substituted, and this is not easily de- 

 tected when the work is fresh, but the bone is liable to decay 

 and does not retain its polish as does ivory. An even less- 

 satisfactory substitute is a wood called chikni, which when 

 freshly polished has somewhat the tint of ivory, f 



Cabinetwork and furniture of ebony inlaid with ivory 

 are made in Mysore, the taste here being conservative and 

 favouring the retention of the old models, Carneatic and 

 Mogul. The prices obtained for this Mysore work are fairly 

 good, a teapoy (table for the tea service) selling for 50 rupees 

 ($16), a chair for 100 rupees ($33). One piece of inlay work 

 produced here secured a gold medal at the Calcutta Inter- 

 national Exhibition; this was a door 6 feet by 12 feet made 

 expressly for the Bangalore Palace at a cost of 1,500 rupees 



*J. L. Kipling, Journal of Indian Art, Vol. I. 



tT. P. Ellis, "Ivory Carving in the Punjab," in the Journal of Indian Art and Industry, 

 Vol. IX, No. 75, p. 47; July, 1901. 



