Ivory

Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory is little used today, but has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, piano keys and billiard balls. Elephant ivory has been the most important source, but ivory from many species including the hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth and narwhal has been used. The word ultimately derives from the Ancient Egyptian âb, âbu "elephant", through the Latin ebor- or ebur.^[1]

The use and trade of elephant ivory has become controversial as its harvesting, which often involves killing elephants solely for their tusks, has contributed to declining populations in some areas. Many organizations, including the United Nations under CITES, have banned the ivory trade, and nearly all governments prohibit harvesting. Poaching and smuggling in violation of such bans is a problem in some places.

Ivory has availed itself to many ornamental and practical uses. Prior to the introduction of plastics, it was used for billiard balls, piano keys, Scottish bagpipes, buttons and a wide range of ornamental items. Synthetic substitutes for ivory have been developed. Plastics have been viewed by piano purists as an inferior ivory substitute on piano keys, although other recently developed materials more closely resemble the feel of real ivory.

The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is the same regardless of the species of origin. The trade in certain teeth and tusks other than elephant is well established and widespread, therefore "ivory" can correctly be used to describe any mammalian teeth or tusks of commercial interest which is large enough to be carved or scrimshawed (Crocodile teeth are also used).

Contents 1 Uses 2 Consumption before plastics 3 Availability 3.1 Alternative sources 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Uses

Both the Greek and Roman civilizations practised ivory carving to make large quantities of high value works of art, precious religious objects, and decorative boxes for costly objects. Ivory was often used to form the white of the eyes of statues.

The Syrian and North African flacid elephant populations were reduced to extinction, probably due to the demand for ivory in the Classical world.^{[citation needed]}

The Chinese have long valued ivory for both art and utilitarian objects. Early reference to the Chinese export of ivory is recorded after the Chinese explorer Zhang Qian ventured to the west to form alliances to enable for the eventual free movement of Chinese goods to the west; as early as the first century BC, ivory was moved along the Northern Silk Road for consumption by western nations.^[2] Southeast Asian kingdoms included tusks of the Indian elephant in their annual tribute caravans to China. Chinese craftsmen carved ivory to make everything from images of deities to the pipe-stems and end-pieces of opium pipes.^[3]

The Indianized Buddhist cultures of Southeast Asia, including Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos and Cambodia traditionally harvested ivory from their domesticated elephants. Ivory was prized for containers due to its ability to keep an airtight seal. Ivory was also commonly carved into elaborate seals utilized by officials to "sign" documents and decrees by stamping them with their unique official seal.^[4]

In Southeast Asian countries where Muslim Malay peoples live, such as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, ivory was the material of choice for making the handles of magical kris daggers. In the Philippines, ivory was also used to craft the faces and hands of Catholic icons and images of saints.

Tooth and tusk ivory can be carved into a vast variety of shapes and objects. A small example of modern carved ivory objects are small statuary such as okimono, netsukes, jewelry, flatware handles, furniture inlays, and piano keys. Additionally, warthog tusks, and teeth from sperm whales, orcas and hippos can also be scrimshawed or superficially carved, thus retaining their morphologically recognizable shapes.

[edit] Consumption before plastics

Before plastics were invented, ivory was important for cutlery handles, musical instruments, billiard balls, and many other items. It is estimated that consumption in Great Britain alone in 1831 amounted to the deaths of nearly 4,000 elephants. Ivory can be taken from dead animals — Russians dug up tusks from extinct mammoths — however most ivory came from elephants who were killed for their tusks. Other animals which are now endangered were also preyed upon, for example, hippos, which have very hard white ivory prized for making artificial teeth.^[5]

[edit] Availability

Owing to the rapid decline in the populations of the animals that produce it, the importation and sale of ivory in many countries is banned or severely restricted. Much of the decline in population is due to poachers during and before the 1980s. Since the United Nations placed a nine-year moratorium on ivory in 1989, there have been ups and downs in elephant populations as bans have been lifted for poorer nations with large elephant populations. Many African countries—including Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, and Botswana—claim that the ivory trade is necessary both to stimulate their economies and to cull large populations of elephants, which are allegedly harming the environment.

In 2007 eBay, under pressure from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, banned all international sales of elephant-ivory products. The decision came after several mass slaughters of African elephants, most notably the 2006 Zakouma elephant slaughter in Chad. The IFAW found that up to 90% of the elephant-ivory transactions on Ebay violated their own wildlife policies and could potentially be illegal. In October 2008, eBay expanded the ban, disallowing any sales of ivory on eBay.

In 2002 the United Nations partially lifted the ban on ivory trade, allowing a few countries to export certain amounts of ivory. Six years later, the UN-backed Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species granted China and Japan permission to import elephant ivory from African government stockpiles in a one-time auction. Approximately 44 tons of ivory from Botswana, 9 tons from Namibia, 51 tons from South Africa, and 4 tons from Zimbabwe were sold.^[6][7]

Kenya emerged as the main critic of these one-off sales. The country saw its elephant populations plummet in the decade preceding the 1989 ban, and claims that legalizing ivory trade anywhere in Africa will endanger elephants everywhere in Africa as poachers would attempt to launder their illegal ivory with legal stockpiles. In 2010, Kenya and 22 allies proposed a 20-year moratorium in ivory trade at a special session of the Doha Development Round.^[8]

Recently, there has been a steady increase in the ivory trade due to a recent increase in the population of the South African elephant population. The factors that have led to this recent boom in the animals population growth is currently unknown but conservationists believe that a reduction in poaching and the implementation of stricter bans on ivory trading are all contributing factors to this unprecedented phenomenon.

[edit] Alternative sources

Trade in the ivory from the tusks of dead mammoths has occurred for 300 years and continues to be legal. Mammoth ivory is used today to make handcrafted knives and similar implements. Mammoth ivory is rare and costly, because mammoths have been extinct for millennia and scientists loathe to sell museum-worthy specimens in pieces, but this trade does not threaten any living species. However, the uncontrolled extraction of mammoth remains from the melting Siberian permafrost is a problem.^[9]

A species of hard nut is gaining popularity as a replacement for ivory, although its size limits its usability. It is sometimes called vegetable ivory, or tagua, and is the seed endosperm of the ivory nut palm commonly found in coastal rainforests of Ecuador, Peru and Colombia.^[10]

[edit] See also

• Ivory carving
• Ivory trade
• Vegetable ivory
• Walrus ivory

[edit] References

1. ^ The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford 1993), entry for "ivory."
2. ^ C.Michael Hogan,Silk Road, North China, The Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham
3. ^ Martin, Steven. The Art of Opium Antiques. (2007). Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai
4. ^ http://www.asianart.com/articles/thai-ivory/index.html Ivory Carving in Thailand Retrieved on 08-30-07
5. ^ Tomlinson, C., ed. (1866). Tomlinson's Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts. London: Virtue & Co.  Vol I, pages 929-930.
6. ^ Ivory sales | Round the horn | Economist.com
7. ^ {http://www.afrol.com/articles/31435 "Conservationists cry foul of Southern Africa ivory auction"} Afrol News, accessed 22 January 2009}
8. ^ Gathura, Gatonye (2010-03-23). "Our elephants are safe, for now". Daily Nation: pp. 1, 2. Archived from the original on 2010-03-24. http://www.webcitation.org/5oSPi8nka. Retrieved 2010-03-24. 
9. ^ | title=Trade in mammoth ivory, helped by global thaw, flourishes in Russia | date=2008-03-25 | accessdate=2010-09-22
10. ^ "Could plant ivory save elephants?". CNN. 2005-04-26. http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/04/26/vegivory/index.html. Retrieved 2010-05-05. 

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ivory

• How to tell fake ivory from real at the Wayback Machine (archived June 23, 2008).
• TRAFFIC reports on the ivory trade including those on ETIS (Elephant Trade Information System), prepared on behalf of CITES
• The International Ivory Society
• Ivory carving in France
• Gemological properties of ivory
• On The Preservation of Elephants by www.antiquespider.com
• Learn About Different Ivories and Identifying Fakes
• Kenya Ivory, Rhino Horn Seizure Tops 660 Pounds by Tom Odula, The Huffington Post, July 14, 2009
• Ivory Carvings All about ivory Carvings