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==Uses== {{Main|Ivory carving}} [[File:Vierge a l'Enfant debout.jpg|thumb|A depiction of the [[Blessed Virgin Mary]] and the [[Child Jesus]] crafted in elephant ivory]] [[File:Ivory tabernacle Louvre OA2587.jpg|thumb|An ivory [[tabernacle]] featuring the Madonna of Caress, France]] Both the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] civilizations practiced ivory carving to make large quantities of high-value works of art, precious religious objects, and decorative boxes for costly objects. Ivory was often used to form the white of the eyes of statues. There is some evidence of either [[whale]] or [[walrus ivory]] used by the ancient Irish. [[Gaius Julius Solinus|Solinus]], a Roman writer in the 3rd century claimed that the Celtic peoples in Ireland would decorate their sword-hilts with the 'teeth of beasts that swim in the sea'. [[Adomnan of Iona]] wrote a story about [[St Columba]] giving a sword decorated with carved ivory as a gift that a penitent would bring to his master so he could redeem himself from slavery.<ref>Adomnan of Iona. Life of St Columba. Penguin books, 1995</ref> The Syrian and North African elephant populations were reduced to extinction, probably due to the demand for ivory in the [[Classical Antiquity|Classical world]].<ref>Revello, Manuela, “Orientalising ivories from Italy”, in BAR, British Archaeological Reports, Proceedings of International Symposium of Mediterranean Archaeology, February 24–26, 2005, Università degli Studi di Chieti, 111–118.</ref> The Chinese have long valued ivory for both art and utilitarian objects. Early reference to the Chinese export of ivory is recorded after the Chinese [[explorer]] [[Zhang Qian]] ventured to the west to form alliances to enable the eventual free movement of Chinese goods to the west; as early as the first century BC, ivory was moved along the [[Northern Silk Road]] for consumption by western nations.<ref>{{cite web|author=Hogan, C. M.|url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18006|title=Silk Road, North China|publisher=Megalithic.co.uk|year=2007|access-date=2017-11-03}}</ref> Southeast Asian kingdoms included tusks of the Indian elephant in their annual tribute caravans to China. Chinese craftsmen carved ivory to make everything from images of deities to the pipe stems and end pieces of [[opium pipes]].<ref>Martin, S. (2007). ''The Art of Opium Antiques''. Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai</ref> In Japan, ivory carvings became popular in the 17th century during the [[Edo period]], and many ''[[netsuke]]'' and ''[[kiseru]]'', on which animals and legendary creatures were carved, and ''[[inro]]'', on which ivory was inlaid, were made. From the mid-1800s, the new Meiji government's policy of promoting and exporting arts and crafts led to the frequent display of elaborate ivory crafts at [[World's fair]]. Among them, the best works were admired because they were purchased by Western museums, wealthy people, and the [[Imperial house of Japan|Japanese Imperial Family]].<ref name = "murata88">Masayuki Murata. (2017) ''Introduction to Meiji Crafts'' pp. 88–89. Me no Me. {{ISBN|978-4907211110}}</ref> The Buddhist cultures of [[Southeast Asia]], including [[Myanmar]], [[Thailand]], [[Laos]] and [[Cambodia]], traditionally harvested ivory from their domesticated elephants. Ivory was prized for containers due to its ability to keep an airtight seal. It was also commonly carved into elaborate seals utilized by officials to "sign" documents and decrees by stamping them with their unique official seal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asianart.com/articles/thai-ivory/index.html|publisher=Asian Art|author=Daniel Stiles|title=Ivory Carving in Thailand|access-date=2017-11-03}}</ref> In Southeast Asian countries, where Muslim Malay peoples live, such as [[Malaysia]], [[Indonesia]] and the [[Philippines]], ivory was the material of choice for making the handles of [[kris]] daggers. In the Philippines, ivory was also used to craft the faces and hands of Catholic icons and images of saints prevalent in the [[Santo (art)|Santero]] culture. Tooth and tusk ivory can be carved into a vast variety of shapes and objects. Examples of modern carved ivory objects are [[okimono]], [[netsuke]]s, jewelry, flatware handles, furniture inlays, and piano keys. Additionally, [[warthog]] tusks, and teeth from [[sperm whale]]s, [[orca]]s and hippos can also be scrimshawed or superficially carved, thus retaining their morphologically recognizable shapes. As trade with Africa expanded during the first part of the 1800s, ivory became readily available. Up to 90 percent of the ivory imported into the [[United States]] was processed, at one time, in [[Connecticut]] where [[Deep River, Connecticut|Deep River]] and [[Ivoryton]] in 1860s became the centers of ivory milling, in particular, due to the demand for ivory piano keys.<ref>[https://connecticuthistory.org/ivory-cutting-the-rise-and-decline-of-a-connecticut-industry/ Ivory Cutting: The Rise and Decline of a Connecticut Industry]</ref> [[File:Ivory powder measure - DPLA - eaab2fc72b4fb9a1d2c4b7a5d31bffd1 (cropped).jpg|alt=An ivory powder measure from the collection of Conner Prairie|thumb|An ivory [[powder measure]] from the collection of Conner Prairie]] Ivory usage in the last thirty years has moved towards mass production of souvenirs and jewelry. In Japan, the increase in wealth sparked consumption of solid ivory ''[[Hanko (stamp)|hanko]]'' – name seals – which before this time had been made of wood. These ''hanko'' can be carved out in a matter of seconds using machinery and were partly responsible for massive African elephant decline in the 1980s, when the African elephant population went from 1.3 million to around 600,000 in ten years.<ref name="To Save"/><ref name="A System">EIA (1989). [http://eia-international.org/a-system-of-extinction-the-african-elephant-disaster "A System of Extinction – the African Elephant Disaster".] [[Environmental Investigation Agency]], London.</ref>
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