To attempt even to catalogue the extremely diversified uses to which
ivory is applied would of itself be no easy task. There is not perhaps
in the whole commercial list an article possessed of wider relations.
It is extensively consumed in the manufacture of handles to knives and
forks, and cutlery of every description; combs of all kinds; brushes
of every form and use; billiard-balls, chess-men, dice, dice-boxes;
bracelets, necklaces, rings, brooches; slabs for miniature portraits,
pocket-tablets, card-cases; paper-knives, shoeing-horns, large spoons
and forks for salad; ornamental work-boxes, jewel-caskets, small
inlaid tables; furniture for doors and cabinets; pianoforte and organ
keys; stethoscopes, lancet-cases, and surgical instruments;
microscopes, lorgnettes, and philosophical instruments; thermometer
scales, hydrometer scales, and mathematical instruments; snuff-boxes,
cigar-cases, pipe-tubes; fans, flowers, fancy boxes; crucifixes,
crosiers, and symbols of faith; idols, gods, and symbols of
superstition; vases, urns, sarcophagi, and emblems of the dead;
temples, pagodas; thrones, emblems of mythology; and, in short, there
is hardly a purpose in the useful and ornamental arts to which ivory
is, or has not been in some way extensively employed. At present, the
ivory carvings of Dieppe are the finest in Europe; but the genius of
the present age is utilitarian, and so are its applications of ivory.
If we desire high art in the fabrication of this material, we must go
back a few centuries, or be satisfied with the beautiful productions
of China or Hindostan. We could scarcely give a more apt illustration
of this truth than by pointing to the scat of honour set apart for
Prince Albert in the closing scene of the Great Exhibition. Elevated
on the crimson platform, and standing forth as an appropriate emblem
of the artistic genius of the mighty collection, was observed the
magnificent ivory throne presented to her Majesty by the Rajah of