IVORY CARVINGS of different parts of India are admired for the elaborateness of detail and for the truth of representation. A set of chess men from Berhampur at the Exhibition of 1851, carved from the drawings in Layard's Nineveh, were excellent representations of what the work men could only have seen in the above work, and showed that they are capable of doing new things when required ; their representations of an elephant and other animals were true to nature. At the Madras Exhibition of 1855, a very interesting and complete series of carvings in ivory was exhibited by the raja of Travancore. It comprised many of the common animals, reptiles, fruits, and flowers of the country, all carved with taste, and carefully finished. There was a good deal of grace and spirit in the action of the animals, some of which were in natural attitudes, particularly a bull and cow, two deer, a cheeta, and a rabbit. A frog and lizard were well represented, and a pair of paper - cutters with ornamental handles were particularly deserv ing of notice, one for the judicious adaptation of a common 'garden flower to the design, and the other of a lizard in a spirited attitude. The whole series evinced a perception of the natural beauties of the objects represented. The delicate carving of Chinese workmen is well known. Few pro ducts of their skill are more remarkable than the balls, containing ten or twelve spheres cut out one within another. The manner of cutting these is simple. A piece of ivory or wood is first made perfectly globular, and then several conical holes are bored into it in such a manner that their apices all meet at the centre, which is usually hollowed out an inch or less after the holes are bored. A long crooked tool is then inserted in one of the conical holes, so bent at the end and stoppered on the shaft that it cuts the ivory at the same distance from the surface when its edge is applied to the insides of the cone. By success ively cutting a little on the insides of each conical hole, their incisures meet, and a sphericle is at last detached, which is now turned over and its faces one after another brought opposite the largest hole, and firmly secured by wedges in the other holes, while its surfaces are smoothed and carved. When the central sphere is done, a similar knife, somewhat larger, is again introduced into the holes, and another sphere detached and smoothed in the same way, and then another, until the whole are completed, each being polished and carved before the next outer one is commenced. Fans and card-cases are carved of wood, ivory, and mother-of-pearl in alto-reliev o, with an elabor ateness which shows the great skill and patience of the workmen, but at the same time his bad taste in drawing, the figures, houses, trees, and other objects being grouped in violation of all propriety and perspective. Beautiful Ornaments
are made by carving roots of plants, branches, gnarled knots, etc., into fantastic groups of birds or animals, the artist taking advantage of the natural form of his materials. Models of pagodas, boats, and houses are also entirely constructed of ivory, even to representing the ornamental roofs, the men working at the oar, and women looking from the balconies. Baskets of elegant shape are woven from ivory splinths ; and seals, paper knives, chessmen, counters, combs, etc., exceeding in finish and delicacy the same kind of work found anywhere else in the world. The most elaborate coat of arms, or complicated cypher, can also be imitated by these skilful carvers. The national taste prefers this style of carving on plane surfaces ; it is seen on the walls of houses and granite slabs of fences, the woodwork of boats and shops, and on articles of furniture. Some of it is pretty, but the disproportion and cramped position of the figures detract from its beauty. 1Vhen bones are subjected to the action of hydrochloric acid, the phosphate of lime, which forms one of their component parts, is extracted, and thus bones retain their original form, and acquire great flexibility. In the course of drying, the ivory returns to 'its original hardness, but its flexibility can be easily restored by surrounding it with wet linen, or by placing wet sponges in the cavities of the pieces. The decay of articles in ivory can be effectually checked, even when its progress has advanced so far as to cause the specimens to crumble away under the hands. Some of the works in ivory forwarded by Mr. Layard from Nineveh, were found on their arrival in England to be in a state of rapid decomposition. Professor Owen was consulted on the subject, and he suggested a remedy, which has proved entirely successful, thereby preserving to this country these curious relics of ancient art. Concluding that the decay was owing to the loss of gelatine in the ivory, he recommended that the articles should be boiled in a solution of gelatine. Under this process they became apparently as firm and solid as when they were originally entombed.— Williams' Middle Kingdom; Yule's Embassy ; Itodgson's Nagasaki ; Hon. Mr. Illorrison's Com pendious Description ; Mad. Ex. Jur. Rep. See Carving.