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Antique German Ivory Carved Standing Fan
Nearly every culture over time came to create wonderful Ivory works of art and has been valued as a luxury item from the very first appearance in the market place.
Going back some 20,000 years items were crafted, although crude looking, man expressed his art in these simple forms.
Centuries later we find wonderfully carved artifacts, mostly small, but bewitchingly charming. A few centuries further on the carving became more elaborate and detailed even having jewels and gold inset into the ivory, so luxurious was the commodity and certainly only for the rich and powerful.
In general when one sees a carved piece of ivory China springs to mind as so many were shipped around the world for the last 5000 years
The old pieces which are carved with astonishing precision and detail are exquisite and extremely expensive. These pieces are hunted down by the ardent collector and museums, with deep…very deep pockets.
With that said the ivory ban which came into force in 1991 forced many factories to close and others maintain a small number of highly skilled carvers. It is said that it takes one 10 years to become a master carver and that would mean with today`s ban a lot of wasted years unless another medium is used for the future collectors. There is no reason why these carvers could not carry on in their trade and tradition using other exciting materials which are plentiful. It`s all about marketing the new product and creating a new market.
Perhaps they need a ……Lord Sugar on board.
Here is a very informative link to the world of Chinese Ivories and how to tell the real from forgeries
www.fineartregistry.net/articles/zhao_lihua/ivory_carving_12-29-2006.php
Moving along we discover a cave in the Swabie region of Germany which surrenders 5 pieces of ivory art dating back some 35,000 years. These pieces represent the great Mammoth and were surprisingly well preserved been untouched and protected in an enclosed area for all the years.
There is a great museum, Deutches Elfebeinmuseum in Erbach Germany soley for Ivory exhibits. Count Erbach established the art of Ivory carving in Erbach in the mid 18thc and it continues to this day. German Ivory carvings are some of the very best in the world with some commanding high prices for the likes of Preiss and many others.
In the picture shown we have an exquisite hand carved Ivory standing face fan with a rise and fall mechanism with the shield carved in detail. The shield is fully carved showing one castle on top of a mountain range with another with many turrets, to the right, and in the foreground 7 deer foraging and on the run. There are three finely detailed tress and other foliage filling the frame. The outer edge of the shield carved with swags. A steel rod affixed to the base of shield and then down into the detailed stem. The stem top is finely carved with tiny oak leaves and a small screw in ivory. Further down the stem intricately carved with different forms and ending in acanthus leaves and finally ending in a pie crust base.
There is slight damage but overall a fine German collectible which would stand proud in any collection around the world
