a statue about eight inches in height, and a bas-relief, are the only
specimens that exist in the present day.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the taste for ivory ornament
became almost extinct. There were some periods, however, in the early
part of mediæval history when this material was not forgotten: when
the caliphs of the East formed of it some of the beautiful ornaments
of their palaces; when the Arabian alchemists subjected it to the
crucible, and so produced the pigment ivory black; when a Danish
knight killed an elephant in the holy wars, and established an order
of knighthood which still exists; when Charlemagne, the emperor of the
West, had ivory ornaments of rare and curious carving.[3] It is,
however, at a period subsequent to the return of the crusaders that we
must date the commencement of a general revival of the taste in
Europe. It would be interesting to trace the steps by which ivory
regained its place in the arts and commerce of nations; but on this
point we must not linger. From the low countries it spread to the far
North. Its relations with art and beauty soon became widely
recognised; the growing luxury of the Roman pontificate encouraged its
applications; and towards the end of the fifteenth century it was
extensively employed as an article of ornament and decoration in every
country and court of Europe. The Portuguese were the first to revive a
traffic with Africa which had been dormant for upwards of 1000 years.
It was originally confined to the immense stores of ivory which the
natives had accumulated for the purposes of their superstition; but
these soon became exhausted, and the inexorable demands of European
commerce once more prompted the destruction of the mighty and docile
inhabitant of the wilderness. Elephant-hunting became a trade; and a
terrible havoc was commenced, which has been unremittingly pursued
down to the present time.