Noted Ivory Francois Girar don (17th century) is supposed to have cre ated the famous crucifix in the archiepiscopal palace at Troyes; a replica or the original is in Sens Cathedral. Joseph Villerme (d. 1720) of Saint Claude carved crucifixes exclusively and his work is extant in a number of churches in France. Other noted crucifixes are: one in Calvet Museum, Avignon, by J. B. Guillermin; high altar at the Sorbonne, Paris, by F. Angrier; in Saint Germain-des-Pres Hospital, Paris, by Simon Jaillot. Famous German crucifix carv ers were: Andreas Feistenberger (created beau tiful crucifix of the archbishop of Tours) ; his work is supposed to be the greatly admired crucifix in the Benedictine abbey church at Downside, near Bath (19 inches high) ; another was Georg Petel (example in Imperial Vienna Museum) ; Melchior Barthel (in Florence Mu seum) ; Balthasar Permoser (Brunswick Mu seum) ; Bernhard Bendel (Frankenkirche, Munich). The (Flagellation' scene was a chosen subject for ivory carvers.
In the 17th century we get the strong Italian influence bear ing on all Christian art, the religious intensity in art is now displaced by appeal to the eye more than the mind. The nude enters largely into treatment of figure work. But the art of ivory carving enters its decline to become decadent by the 18th century (rococo and baro que). In the 17th century we have a series of antique subjects, gods and goddesses, baccha nals, satyrs, mostly of inferior talent but fre quently of fine execution and some pieces of re markable art value and originality. Examples are plentiful, for they had a popular demand. And ivory found its uses not only in statuettes and groups but for furniture decoration and inlays, for tankards and ewers, for busts, por trait medallions, caskets, chessmen and draughts men, handles for arms, turnery, etc. The wealthy German princes encouraged the art, some even took ivory artists into their court retinue. Of such were Augustus the Pious, Elector of Saxony, founder of the Dresden '"Green Vaults)); Maximilian, Elector of Ba varia; the princely family of Fuggers' Ferdi nand of Bavaria; Elector Georg Wilhelm of Brandenburg. Augsburg, Munich, Nuremberg became centres for ivory work, also Geislingen, Ulm, Stuttgart and Gmiind. France had as centres Dieppe, Saint Claude, Rouen. A few works worth citing are: the allegorical group of Christoph Maucher (Vienna) showing princes in wigs alongside holy persons, cherubs, scrolls, garlands, angels blowing trumpets; the Louis XIII sceptre (Londesborough Collection), an elegantly formed hand; a German 16th cen tury dagger; a Nuremberg cup held up by a mermaid, some horns. In the museums of Nuremberg, Cassel, Gotha, Brunswick, Carls ruhe, Vienna, are good collections, also in Dresden, Berlin and Munich are fine pieces. Of Flemish work we have 16th century pieces of Francois Duquesnoy (called II Fiamingo), six are in the Museum at Kensington, his favorite subject was youthful satyrs and naked children playing; his Diana and her nymphs bathing is very beautiful. Lucas Fayd'herbe, another
Fleming, is supposed to have executed the pip ing Pan group in the Madrid Prado Museum, but his best work is in tankards and standing cups with satyr processions and dances in the museum at Kensington and other museums. Gerhard van Opstal (d. 1698), also Flemish, worked in Paris; his bacchanal figures, amorini and Venuses, etc., are full of charm. Other clever and noted carvers are Francois van Bossuit (Dutch), and the Germans, Christoph Angermair (with his wonderful cabinets, called Kunstschranke), Georg Petel, Leonhard Kern, Bernhard Strauss, Balthasar Permoser, Ignaz Elhaf en, etc. Lathe or turned work in ivory shows considerable skill in technique in this period; noted workers were: the Zick family, Lorenz and his sons, Martin Teuber, Fil. Sen ger, etc. Their extant examples show tours de-force aided by rose-engine lathes, ellipse chucks, and other mechanical means. With the Spanish, ivory has not been a favorite medium for art work The Moors, however, with the conquest brought the technique, as we see in openwork boxes, in which Oriental or Moham medan treatment is evident, as well as the Cufic inscriptions.
Oriental Ivories.— India, as the home of the elephant, was naturally fond of using ivory in decoration. As with all other civilized na tions, India's arts are bound up with her creed: as the Christian carvers depicted Bible scenes, so the Indians found motifs in Buddhas, Krish nas, Vishnus, Ramas and other monster gods and goddesses of Hindu mythology. On ac count of their monotonous frequency and 'ab solute similarity of expression, Indian art does not appeal to all western minds as does their own much variegated, historical field of pic torial work. Again, in its purely ornamental work its repeat treatment tends to soon pall on the untrained western eye. The barbaric profusion of detail covering the entire surface, also, is against Occidental tenets. And, perhaps above all, the ivory medium does not afford the tonic effect produced by the polychromes seen and enjoyed in the Indian textiles, enamels, lacquers, etc., in their gorgeous splendor. The Indian Museum at Kensington affords examples covering the entire field of Hindu art in ivory and other mediums. Reliefs show lions and ele phants surrounded and enmeshed with scroll foliage done in intricate, minute open-work Benares, Bombay, Delhi, Travancore, etc., are centres for the finer work. Persia appears to have done very little in ivory carving worth notice; her sword handles show, invariably, careful work, almost always in walrus tusk, however. Arab usage of ivory or bone is largely one of inlays, and the Saracenic type of geometrical motifs is displayed on door panels and furniture to good effect. In com bination with ebony and other dark woods very clever effects are seen in arabesque interlacing lines. Coptic screens, the pulpit (nimbar), etc. at Kensington afford us beautiful examples of this work in perfection, the former having carved relief panels of ivory.