Ivory Netsuke and Incense Box with Bakelite Base

• Ivory - Ivory is a hard white material that comes from the tusks of elephants, mammoth, walrus and boar, or from the teeth of hippopotamus and whales. The ivory from the African elephant is the most prized source of ivory. Although the mammoth is extinct, tusks are still being unearthed in Russia and offered for sale.
  
  Ivory has been used since the earliest times as a material for sculpture of small items, both in Europe and the east, principally China and Japan.
  
  In Asia ivory has been carved for netsuke, seals, okimono, card cases, fan supports, animals and other figures and even as carved tusks.
  
  In the last 200 years in Europe ivory has been used to carve figures, for elaborate tankards, snuff boxes, cane handles, embroidery and sewing accessories, in jewellery and as inlay on furniture. Its more practical uses include being used for billiard balls, buttons, and a veneers on the top of piano keys.
  
  The use and trade of elephant ivory have become controversial because they have contributed to Due to the decline in elephant populations because of the trade in ivory, the Asian elephant was placed on Appendix One of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), in 1975, and in January 1990, the African elephant was similarly listed. Under Appendix One, international trade in Asian or African elephant ivory between member countries is forbidden. Unlike trade in elephant tusks, trade in mammoth tusks is legal.
  
  Since the invention of plastics, there have been many attempts to create an artificial ivory
• Boxwood - Boxwood is a hard, yellow coloured, close grained timber. In the 19th century it was often used for inlays, especially stringing, because of its contrasting colour to the darker timbers of the carcase. Stringing is the inlay of a narrow strip of veneer of a lighter colour, such as boxwood along or close to the edges of an object that has been veneered in a darker timber such as mahogany.
  
  Because of its fine grain and resistnce to splitting or chipping it has also been used for treen, turnings, carvings and other small wooden items, such as chess pieces.
• Bakelite - Bakelite was the first completely synthetic man-made substance. Bakelite was invented in 1909 by an independent New York chemist Leo H. Baekeland. It was called the "material of a thousand uses" and used to make everything from car parts to jewellery.
  
  Although nearly all plastic from this period is known as ?Bakelite', it is important to remember that this is an umbrella term that covers many different early plastics such as Lucite and cellulose acetate, and includes Bakelite.
  
  We often think of the colour of Bakelite items as dark brown, but it was manufactured in various colours including yellow, butterscotch, red, green and brown.
  
  Bakelite could also be transparent, or marbleised by mixing two colours. Plastics were cheap to produce and could be moulded or carved in a huge variety of ways.
  
  Bakelite is most commonly associated with radio cases of the 1930s, telephones and kitchen utensils, but it was also used extensively in jewellery manufacture.
  
  Early designs from the 1920s were plainer and simpler than later examples. Geometric and floral patterns typical of Art Deco styling were popular.
  
  During its heyday in the 1930s, Bakelite jewellery was stocked by the most prestigious stores, such as Saks, Harrods and Macy?s, who dedicated a shop window display to it in 1935.
  
  Coco Chanel featured Bakelite items in her accessories collection and the material was praised frequently in Vogue magazine.
  
  Manufacture of some consumer Items were suspended in 1942 in order to concentrate manufacturing on the war effort.
  
  Small items made of Bakelite are now valuable collectables. Andy Warhol was an avid collector, and when he died in 1987, his pieces sold for record prices at Sotheby's.
• Ojime - An ojime is a small decorative bead that is used as a sliding bead or toggle on the cord of a traditional Japanese netsuke. The netsuke is a small sculptural object that was used to fasten a container, such as a box or pouch, to the obi (sash) worn with a traditional Japanese kimono.
  
  The ojime was used to adjust the length of the cord or to secure the container in place. Ojime beads were typically made from a variety of materials such as wood, ivory, bone, and stone. They were often elaborately carved with intricate designs or decorated with colourful lacquer, enamel, or inlay work.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• Japanese netsuke - netsuke, ivory 1,192