Timeless Beauty of Ivory Artifacts

"It is very useful for carving and produces beautiful works of art."

And it's one of China's oldest artistic materials.

[Lark Mason, President, iGavel Auctions]:
"The history of the elephant is really what one's talking about because that's where ivory comes from. It's from the tusk of the elephant. It extends back literally thousands of years in China, to the very earliest periods of time, to the Shang Dynasty, or to even before the Shang Dynasty."

There're good reason for the extensive use of ivory throughout Chinese history. iGavel auctions' president, Lark Mason, says ivory is very versatile.

[Lark Mason, President, iGavel Auctions]:
"So ivory was this substance that was almost indestructible and yet became more beautiful the more often it was handled. So it had a range of purposes, from art works to performing purely utilitarian functions, serving as moldings on furniture or works of art, or mounts on objects that needed to be very durable and to withstand pressure."

Among other works of art, Mason's auction house sells antique ivory objects.

[Lark Mason, President, iGavel Auctions]:
"This was made in the 18th century. It was carved as a work of art, not as an object of veneration but just a beautiful carving. And it's made of ivory and it depicts a beautiful lady and she likely was holding a fly whisk at one time, which has broken off and she may have in fact been intended to be a representation of Guan Yin, but she could have also just been an attractive young woman. And what's noticeable about this is the fineness of the quality of the carving and for a lot of people, the unexpected use of color. This one happens to have a combination of black, red, and brown highlights."

But the story of ivory does not end with beauty.

[Lark Mason, President, iGavel Auctions]:
"Yes, it's wonderful to have an ivory object, but it comes at a tremendous cost."

A cost many in China are unaware of...

[Philip Muruthi, Director, Conservation Science, African Wildlife Foundation]:
"About 70 percent of the Chinese don't know that the elephants have to die for them to get ivory."

It's illegal for African countries to sell ivory to China, but the trade continues on the black market.

[Philip Muruthi, Director, Conservation Science, African Wildlife Foundation]:
"China continues to be the largest consumer of ivory, and there is data from CITES and data from independent studies, that point directly to China as being a consumer of illegal ivory."

This illegal trade has had a drastic effect on elephant populations.

[Daphne Sheldrick, Elephant Expert, Tsavo National Park]:
"There's been a tremendous escalation in poaching since the Chinese came into Africa in numbers."

Mason only auctions ivory objects made decades or hundreds of years ago. He does not condone the creation of new ivory carvings.

[Lark Mason, President, iGavel Auctions]:
"I think that there are plenty of other materials that carvers could use, that could simulate the appearance of ivory, if people were willing to make that bridge."

One alternative was developed in Japan.

[Daphne Sheldrick, Elephant Expert, Tsavo National Park]:
"The Japanese can even make a substance that's just like ivory, out of egg shells and other products."

Today, the moral implications of modern ivory trade have made buying new ivory products socially unacceptable.

But there are still a wide range of antique ivory objects on offer at auctions—works of art that carry the spirit of Chinese culture and capture the timeless beauty of this traditional carving material.