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Magnificent-Ivories 14

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  • mention of an official placed in charge of a hundred and fifty workmen at the Mongol court of 1263. The Yuan Shi (History of the Yuan) also mentions the intended use of the five lu carriages, one again with ivory decorations. Existing Yuan period ivories are also quite rare. They include such things as combs, hairpins, an openwork ivory plaque found in Liaoning and two ivory eulogy book covers excavated at Suzhou. In the early part of the Ming dynasty, ivory carvers probably continued the tradition of the Yuan dynasty in Beijing by having imperial workshops. However, identifiable early Ming ivory carvings are quite scarce. Although not recorded, ivory was likely being traded to China directly from Africa. Emperor Zhu Di (Yongle 1403-1435) had a mighty fleet headed by the eunuch Admiral Zhenghe (1371-1435), who travelled with his ships throughout south Asia to Africa acquiring beautiful objets d�art for the imperial court. Not long after his great feats, the imperial fleet was ordered destroyed by the powerful official classes. From that time until the late 16th centuiy the supply of African ivory was in the hands of Arab traders and that of Asian ivory in the hands of Thai, Malay and Indian traders. There are some surviving seals that date to the early Ming period, but very little else. In the Ge gu yao lun (Essential Criteria for Antiquities) published in 1387/8, there is mention of ivory combs and concentric ivory balls, nicknamed gui gong qiu or �devils� work balls�. These intricate balls require tremendous skill and patience to complete and could take up to three months to finish depending on its intricacy and the number of movable spheres. Gui gong qiu could contain from three to twenty spheres. The revolving hollow globes of fine net work could be turned in every direction and were ingeniously carved from a solid piece of ivory with special cutting tools. The single ball of ivory was pierced with a series of symmetrical holes to the centre. The carvers would begin with the smallest ball in the centre and proceed to carve large balls outwards. According to the scholar, Berthold Laufer, these balls were traditionally made in the palace of the Song emperors. Later in the Qing dynasty, Europeans would become fascinated with the rotating balls, and the carving of the gui gong qiu would continue to be a popular export item through the twentieth century for export. During the mid-Ming period, ivory supplies appear to have diminished and therefore only small objects were being carved. However, by the late Ming period there would be a drastic change, and the ivory industry would flourish and produce innumerable beautiful statuettes, which have survived to this day. Though these statues have mellowed with age, few later figurines have their rustic charm, refinement and grace. Ivory during the seventeenth century was not only carved in Beijing but also in cities throughout China like Nanjing, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhou, Fuzhou, Zhangzhou and Guangzhou. A very important subject of late Ming ivories was that of figure carving, especially in the years 1580 to 1644. This sudden development of figure carving owes a great deal to late medieval Western religious carvings. In medieval Europe the Catholic Church had for some time used ivory votive images of the Madonna and Child in their churches. As the Church�s missionaries moved eastwards in the 16th century, there was a need for more votive images to equip their new churches. Portuguese and Spanish Catholic adventurers established trading footholds in Macao and Manila and even certain areas of South China like Fujian province. The Portuguese had an important trade foothold in Goa, India where ivoiy tusks changed hands. The Portuguese established an ivory industiy for carving religious statues in Goa, 12
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