Dark Stained Vintage Ivory Elephant Pair with Beadwork Embellishments

• 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
• Beadwork / Bead Work (in Embroidery and Needlework - Beadwork in embroidery is a type of embroidery that involves adding beads to fabric to create decorative designs. The beads can be sewn onto the fabric using a needle and thread, or they can be attached using a variety of other techniques, such as beading wire or bead crochet. Beadwork is often used in conjunction with other embroidery techniques, such as cross-stitch and appliqué.
  
  Beadwork has been used for decorative purposes for thousands of years, and it has been fashionable in many different cultures and time periods. In Western fashion, beadwork was popular in the 19th century, during the Art Nouveau movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and continued to be fashionable through the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1960s and 1970s, beadwork experienced a resurgence in popularity.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• embroidery - beadwork 19