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- as thin as paper, to the point of translucency, and weave it into complex designs. The carving style of the Guangzhou ivory carvers even appears to have some Western ideas with regards to modeling and shading. Round pieces were turned on the lathe. The ivory carvers worked long hours and lived in the same vicinity forming a kind of mediaeval guild. In 1792 John Barrow, private Secretary to Lord Macartney, mentions in his writings �of all the mechanical arts, that which they seem to have attained the highest degree of
perfection is the cutting of ivory.........Nothing can be more exquisitely beautiful than the
fine open work displayed in a Chinese fan, the sticks of which would seem to be singly cut by the hand, for whatever pattern may be required, or a shield with coat of arms, or a cypher, the article will be finished according to the drawing at the shortest notice....�
During the Qing period ivory carving also thrived in Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Jiading. The carvers were closely associated with bamboo carvers and probably shared motifs and subjects, and maybe even dabbled in each other�s materials. The carvings in these areas were largely untouched by Western influence and therefore a more traditional Chinese literati taste is reflected. The ivory production in Guangzhou far exceeded these other locations, which in the nineteenth century suffered much devastation caused by the Taiping Rebellion (1851-64).
During the reign of Emperor Qianlong (r. 1736-95), the art of ivory carving reached its artistic zenith and is called the ��Golden Age of Chinese Ivory Carving�. Qianlong was a noted man of letters, a calligrapher and a poet. He was a devotee of the arts, and it seems that no artistic undertaking escaped his influence. He was often involved in reviewing designs and stages of production. He had an opinionated nature and nurtured a particular style of carving in jade, bamboo and ivory. Qianlong�s Imperial Ivory Workshop was primarily made up of Guandong artisans and the Guangdong style greatly influenced the imperial style.
With the death of Qianlong in 1799, the imperial studios closed down one after the other, including the ivory studio. With the imperial ateliers gone; the rigorous supervision gone; and the exalted patronage and stimulation of the Emperor Qianlong gone; ivory carving in the north drastically declined and the court came to rely on ivory carvings sent as tribute from Guangzhou. The loss of the ivory workshop in Beijing was to some extent counter-balanced by the increased production of ivory carvers in Guangzhou. With the arrival of steamships in the nineteenth century, European ships greatly increased the supply of ivory to China, in particular Guangzhou, which brought about the mass production of ivory objects for markets in Europe and the Americas. Factory methods also helped increase the production of ivories. In the 19th century, despite Europeans bringing large amounts of African ivory to China, Thailand remained China�s biggest supplier of ivory.
The great repertoire of ivory artifacts made with grace and beauty during the 18th and 19th century included figures of innumerable deities and individuals of the Buddhist or Daoist religions, immortals, historical heroes, erotic and mythical figures, animals, birds, flowers and fruit as well containers: vases, ewers, cups, goblets, incense burners, trays, boxes, mortars, etc. Beautiful ivory items were made for the scholar�s desk: small folding screens with incised designs usually of landscapes or calligraphy, decorative plaques with full reliefs, wrist-rests, brush pots, brush holders, brush handles, cricket cages, rulers, paper weights, seals or chops, fondle pieces, roller ends for scrolls, tubes for holding peacock feathers attached to hats of the official class, and furniture with ivory inlay. Export ivory
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