Ivory Carving

By Carson I A Ritchie
By Arthur Baker Ltd
1969 SBN 213 17955 5

Arthur Baker Ltd writes:

As this is the first handbook on ivory carving ever to be written, the author (who is one Britain’s foremost ivory sculptors) has tried to make it as complete as possible. Step by step instructions, fully illustrated by line drawings, take the beginner from the initial stage of buying the ivory through the sculpting and polishing processes. In the final chapter on Marketing and Exhibiting the author passes on his experience as a professional ivory carver and exhibitor for those who want to turn ivory carving from an enthusiasm into a livelihood. This book lays bare for the first time the secrets of ivory sculpture which have been transmitted from master to pupil over the centuries, but never published.

Although primarily intended for the beginner who has had no formal art instruction, this book will also interest the professional sculptor who wishes to move over from some other medium into ivory, particularly the special sections on cutting the cost of buying the tusks, studio arrangement and planning of work so as to eliminate unnecessary drudgery and leave as much time as possible available for the vital matters of inspiration an design.

In his advice to beginners in carving the author has tried to balance between the enthusiast who cannot afford any more equipment than what will go on a kitchen table, and the professional with a well equipped studio. A well chosen photographic section shows what ivories look like at different stages of the carving process and illustrates the work of contemporary sculptors in this field.

Ivory carving is not of interest just to the carver, but to the collector, the archaeologist, and the art historian as well. Special sections have been written to show how to distinguish between the provenance of one kind of ivory and another and how to track the use of different kinds of tools from their traces. So archaeologists can now begin to ask themselves the question ‘Is this statue Indian or African ivory, and how was it carved?’ with some hope of an answer.

About the author
Dr Richie is the first research worker to test every known kind of ivory for hardness and fluorescence. He began ivory carving as a complete amateur, and now exhibits with the Royal Society of Miniature Artists, Sculptors and Gravers.