116 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



flowers; through the openings the artist cuts out in the centre 

 of the mass a Httle figure, which is so entirely separate from 

 the enclosing decorated surface that we would suppose that 

 it had been carved outside and then placed within the orna- 

 mental hilt.* 



In spite of the fact that the home supply of ivory in Burma 

 is ample, the ivory-carving industry languishes, although the 

 few carvers still employed seem to find more than they can 

 do. It is suggested that the opening of a school of art might 

 serve to revive the industry, which is now essentially con- 

 fined to Moulmein and Pyinmana. The total amount of 

 ivory used in the course of a year by the carvers of Moulmein 

 has been estimated at from eight to twelve pairs of tusks. 

 As a rule the Burmese carver reproduces the old patterns 

 handed down from generation to generation, unless the per- 

 son giving the order prefers that he should copy some Euro- 

 pean design. While learning the art apprentices are given 

 cocoanut shell as a material, thus avoiding the risk of having 

 a valuable piece of ivory injured. Moreover, as cocoanut 

 shell is more brittle than ivory, the apprentice who is able 

 to work it without breaking it can be safely entrusted with 

 the task of carving a piece of ivory. Little originality is 

 exhibited by the Burmese carvers, and their art is very con- 

 ventional; the products include boxes, picture-frames, han- 

 dles for knives and forks, paper-knives, etc. If ordered, 

 chessmen, mats, chairs, etc., can be made, and sometimes 

 whole tusks are carved over with some ornamental design, 

 one enterprising artist devoting more than seven months' 

 time to the carving of twenty-eight different images of the 

 Buddha as decoration to a single tusk.f 



*T. N. Mukharji, "Art Manufactures of India," Calcutta, 1888, pp. 149, 279. 



tH. S. Pratt, "Ivory Carving in Burma," the Journal of Indian Art and Industry,YoL 

 IX, No. 75, p. 59; July, 1901. See for a representation of this or a similarly decorated 

 tusk from Burma, Jour. Ind. Art. and Ind., Vol. I, No. 7, July, 1885, Fig. 12. 



