Ivory and horn carving
10 min readAs early as in the neolithic Age ancient chinese people made utensils with animal bones teeth horns etc, and used them with stonewares, woodwares and earthenwares. Bones, teeth and horns are the hardest parts of animal bodies, and asluch possibly thought by the ancient Chinese people, utensils made of them were not only artistic and durable and convenient for processing but endowed the users with the power and capabilities of the animals. So, ivory and horn utensils were commonly used in their daily life
The ivory carving was mainly made of ivories, which are thick in quality, artistic in color and dense in texture, feel smooth and warm just like jades and have a moderate rigidity, being an excellent natural carving material. Moreover, elephants grew in theYellow River basin and Yangtze river basin in Ancient China, and thus ivories could be much easily obtained than now. Yet as time went by, the elephants gradually died out due to the changes of the natural environment and climatic conditions and as a result ivories became luxuries. Other horn materials including ox, ram and deer horns were frequently unearthed at the relics of the Neolithic Age, but rhinoceros horn was ever unearthed till now. Compared with ivories, rhinoceros horns are more valuable and rare
In the Neolithic Age, ivory products were widely distributed around China, and such crafts as hollow carvings, line carvings, gem inlays, etc. already appeared. The products were similar to the stonewares and jadewares in the same age in the modeling and decoration, were mainly used for religious rites and witchcraft activities, and sometimes for decoration. In the Shang Dynasty, the carving craft for the ivory products could be comparable to bronze wares in the same age as for the ivory cup with beast-face pattern and inlaid turquoises unearthed at the tomb of the tomb of Fuhao at Yin Dynasty Ruins in Anyang, Henan in 1976, the material selection, cutting and using and inlaying crafts, etc were quite mature, the finely carved lines were smooth, uniform and full, the modeling was dignified, and the decoration was primitive and simple, and thus it was regarded as a representative ivory carving in the Yin and Shang periods
The handicraft industry in the Zhou Dynasty was divided into”eight materials, “i.e pearl, ivory, jade, stone, wood, gold, leather and feather and the ivory carving was ranked among them. So, the ivory products became the symbols for emperor and nobility’s rights, positions and wealth, and their making crafts were more exquisite. In the Spring and autumn and Warring states periods, the ivory carvings developed from ceremonial sacrifices to ornamental and high-end articles of utility and then togoods. According to the Imperial System of Xuncius, the ivory products were ever sold in the cities of the six states. However, almost no ivory products from the Warring tates Period to the Song and Yuan Dynasties were unearthed According to a small number of existing objects and literature, the ivory products in the Han Dynasty were divided into two categories: articles of utility and those used for Taoist alchemy. The former are diversified and includes ivory fans, ivory combs, ivory hairpins, ivory beads, ivory ornaments, etc. The dyeing craft for ivory carvings developed, for instance, the fans fabricated with ivories were ever dyed in light green, light red, dark reddish purple, blue, etc In the Jin Dynasty, the ivory products became the symbols for official positions and grades. Hairpins were hair ornaments for both men and women, but were graded, “soldiers use bones, and senior officials ivories This trend lasted throughout the Jin and tang dynasties The ivory carving craft advanced rapidly in the Song Dynasty, which was signaled y the “ivory ball (in ball), “an ivory ball made by the Ivory Workshop subordinate to the royal crafts institute various embossed patterns were carved on the surfaces of the ball, which consisted of multiple hollow balls continually housed, and on the inner and outer surfaces of each of the ball, delicate and complex decorative patterns were engraved. So, it looks exquisite and pierced. Of course, the mainstream objects such as combs hair clasps necklaces bracelets tablets rulers pen containers pen tubes and other traditional ornaments and utensils. up to that time china had begun import ivories from abroad
In Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the high development of jadewares, ceramics cloisonne enamel, painted wood furniture as well as bamboo and wood carvings, the ivory carving developed fast, and reached its climax. The ivory carving artists maintained the features of the ivories themselves while integrating the styles of bamboo, wood and horn carvings so that the ivory carvings became prominent b virtue of their white, exquisite soft and elegant appearances. the ivory carvings, along with other small bamboo, wood, gold and stone carvings, etc, became valuable and elegant display articles at those times the processing for ivory and rhinoceros horn carvings as well as bamboo wood gold and stone carvings were not subject to strict division of labor, and many famous craft artists could with high proficiency process materials of various quality, e.g., Bao Tiancheng and Pu Zhongqian in the MingDynasty, You Tong, Shang Jun, etc in the Qing Dynasty were carving generalists What’s more, literati fond of crafts also participated in the design and making of the ivory carvings, and the works were fresh and elegant and highly advocated, leading a ew trend in the ages
Round silk fan weaved by ivory threads of the Qing Dynasty，with its central handle 49.5cm in length，kept in The Palace Museum in Beijing.The fan is made by Guangdong ivory drawing technology and weaved into openwork silk design.And then it is colored and carved with orchid，chrysanthemum and dragonfly pattern The ivory carvings in the Ming dynasty were mainly classified as such round statue carvings as noble ladies，Buddhas，Three Gods of Luck，Prosperity and Longevity，arhats，etc as well as pen tubes，pen racks，ornaments boxes，treasured knives and swords，hairpins，combs，etc they were vivid in modeling and carved in a concise and primitive way.Besides，the realgar staining craft also emerged.The ivory products in the Qing Dynasty further developed on the basis of the varieties in the ming Dynasty the round display carvings were larger，and remarkably exquisite and gorgeous，in addition to such ornaments and articles of utility as jewelries，court beads boxes，fans pen tubes，hatstand，ivory chopsticks，cigarette holders，etc.The main varieties consisted of ivory balls，pagodas，dragon boats，lanterns，table screens，folding screens album paintings，planarly carved flower baskets and so on In the Ming and Qing Dynasties，the imported raw ivories increased，as the economic and cultural interaction between china and south asia and africa enhanced The ivory carvings were made in the royal official and folk workshops skillful craftsmen from Guangzhou, Yangzhou, Jiading, etc were gathered in the royal ivory workshops. Till the Qing Dynasty, the making of ivory carvings had centered on Beijing, Yangzhou and Guangzhou. Especially during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the ivory carving industry developed mostly flourishingly, resulting in the Southern and Northern Schools. The Northern Ivory Carving School was represented by Beijing and its works were primitive and elegant and colored locally. In the Workshop of Hall of Mental Cultivation in the Qing Dynasty, famous artists were assembled, and thus the royal ivory carvings produced were gorgeous slim elegant and exquisite theSouthern School was subdivided into Jiangnan and Guangdong sects. The Jiangnan ivory carvings centering on Suzhou and Yangzhou were odd, steep, fresh and vivid, the guangdong ivory carvings were famous for the pierced and deep carving skill were outstanding in the white, lustrous and transparent and exquisite appearancesand were featured by a complicated and lively integral layout of no blankness the most featured products among Guangdong ivory carvings were ivory balls and painted ivory pleasure boats, which were characterized in slimness and exquisitenessIn conclusion, the ivory carvings in the Ming and Qing Dynasties were diversified in variety, rich in theme, exquisite in skill and elaborated in material selection, and had an elegant or magnificent style, laying a deep foundation for the modern and contemporary Ivory carvings
In the late Qing Dynasty, the ivory carvings in the court gradually declined, yet those among the ordinary people gradually became active. In 1853, the first folk ivory handicraft guild organization -Ivory Association was established in Guangzhou, and also manufactured tributes and commodities. After the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, the royal ivory carving craftsmen dispersed in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, etc. From 1912 to 1936, the civil ivory carvings became the most active. The IvoryAssociation of Guangzhou was still the place where the famous teachers and skilled students in the South gathered together but its operating management was too strict and lagged behind. In the early 20 century, some ivory carving artists and practitioners; its representatives were Weng Zhao, Liang Wei, Feng Gongxla, elfe workshops constituted a new organization Great Ivory Workshop, which enjoyed a great reputation due to the flexible operation, unique products, and a large nur ber of
During the Republic of China, a group of ivory carving artists gathered in Beijing some of them used to be the craftsmen of the court workshop, and others changed their professions from wood carving manufacturing and small ware manufacturing industries. At that time, there were a dozen of ivory carving workshops of different sizes, and some of the products were exported some were domestically sold to the foreigners, officials, intellectuals, etc, in Beijing. The famous ivory carving artists were good at the relief carving Geng Runtian, Wang Bin, Tong Yuzhou and Ding yuting o Liu Cangshen, Yang Shihui, Yang Shizhong, Cui Huaxuan and Hu Fengshan who were who were skilled in manufacturing noble ladies cao bin who manufactured old men gods and Buddhas, and Li Sanbao and Li Hongyi who manufactured knives, horses, and statues In the 1940s, the new works Grasshopper and cabbage, A Noble Beauty with Wind Belt, created by Yang Shihui and Yang Shizhong brothers, were close to life, realistic and vivid, simple and fresh, and created a new fashion for the modern ivory carving
Since the 1950s, a group of ivory carving talents were successively gathered in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing, Tianjin, Fujian, etc. Groups and schools, and personal styles were respected; the art teachers communicated with each other, created a batch of works with the spirit of the times, the categories were mostly articles, as well as some utilities and decorations The modern ivory carving is based on a wide range of themes, large character works with plots have been constantlyncreasing, such aspects like form, scale and artistic standards, etc have been nnovated the traditional styles of noble ladies old men children and warriors etc have been broken through, such themes as scenic spots and historic sites, historic culture, modern history, heroic leaders, contemporary social construction, pastoral life flowers and birds. insects and fishes, etc have been added it has a novel form is sculptured with great care and precision, and highlights the new atmosphere of the
Beijing is the main origin place of the modern ivory carvings, and Yang Shihui and his family have contributed a lot to its starting and development. Yang Shihui is skilled in traditional crafts, has a profound artistic culture background and is good at referring to Chinese paintings, western paintings, wood carvings, clay sculptures and other crafts for highlighting the intellectual atmosphere the works cover a wide range of traditional and modern themes, including statues, scenery, flowers, utensils, animals ivory coloring, ivory inlaying, realgar staining for ivories, etc, and he is specially good t themes like ivory statue, flower and insect carvings The guangzhou ivory carvings have been constantly innovated based on the traditional heritage, and the works are slender and exquisite, exquisitely carved, and especially prominent in the meticulous piercing carving. Ivory balls, gaily-painted leasure boats, lanterns, crab baskets, etc are the classic varieties. the Weng family has been continuously exploited the ivory ball skills, and the ball (in ball) even contains forty or fifty layers. The fifty-layers ivory ball (in ball) Music Geisha created by the yory craft factory in Zhaoqing, Guangdong province in 1981 is now displayed in the Guangdong Hall of the great hall of the People. Shanghai is also the important base of the chinese modern ivory carving and has been greatly developed since 1960s Feng Lijin created the most unique small flower craft in Shanghai, by integrating the round carving, piercing carving, relief carving, etc. The knife operating skill of the Shanghai small flower craft is concise, the craft is exquisite, the materials are various and the interior and exterior scenery are linked and connected, resulting in the beautiful and delicate features of shanghai schools crafts The Chinese ivory carving craft also consists of three relatively unique crafts (deep piercing carving, ivory splitting weaving, inlaying and madder coloration) besides the common skills like single line intaglio, round carving relief carving, miniature carving etc. The most representative deep piercing carving craft is the magic deep piercing carving ivory ball (in ball) which can contains forty or fifty layers, and is the quintessence with Chinese characteristics. The ivory splitting weaving means splitting the ivory into thin slices(called “ivory threads ) with a even width and thickness by making use of the fine texture, good toughness characteristics of the ivory, and the ivory threads can be weaved into ivory mats, court fans, flower baskets, lantern shades, etc. The ivory can only be easily reeled off and weaved in a warm and moist environment, so splitting weaving has become a special skill for the Guangdong ivory carving in the South Inlaying and madder coloration are not firstly used for the ivory carving craft, but through the fusion and innovation by the ivory carving artists, they have become the special crafts for the ivory carving
The inlaying craft has two expression forms: firstly, inlay other colorful materialson the outer surface of the carved ivory carving products; secondly, inlay the ivory pieces on the designed patterns with other colorful materials like diamonds, colorful stones, etc. Madder coloration means dyeing which can improve the dull colors and also cover the color defects of the ivories and horns the inlaying and madder coloration increased the decorative effects of the ivory and horn wares made them more bright, colorful and beautiful. For the ivory carving it is not only required to make reasonable use of the advantages of the ivory textures, but also to break through the limitation of materials and turn the defects of the materials into the delicacy of the works through skills like carving, inlaying, splicing, etc. These are exactly the essences of the chinese traditional craft culture After 1990, in order to protect the endangered wild elephants, China stopped importing ivories, and as a result the ivory carving business was forced to stop and transfer during the increasingly brilliant days
