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Ch. 3: Oriental Ivory Carvings

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104
IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT
is another instance of the curious tendency of Indian crafts to be localized in out-of-the-way places in a way that is not easily accounted for. There are at Pali whole streets of ivory bangle-turners. Their wares are produced in sets of graduated sizes, covering the arm from the shoulder to the wrist, with an interval for the elbow, and they are worn almost universally in the Western Rajput States."
Ivory is a favourite material for inlays on wood in India, and much of the work done in this style merits praise. The chief centre of this branch of art at the present time is the Panjab, notably at Hushiarpur, where a great variety of household articles are so decorated, such as the small square wooden seats, called chautis, almirahs (cupboards of a special type), wall-brackets, tables, chairs, boxes, desks, rulers, picture-frames, cabinets, etc. The production of each of these objects usually requires the combined efforts of several workmen. Sometimes the ivory inlay is thrown into sharper relief by a bordering of blackened wood. Most of those engaged in this work live in the village of Ghulam Husain Bassi, in the immediate neighbourhood of Hushiarpur. This industry, which is recently revived, is now in a flourishing condition.*
These objects are comparatively inexpensive as shown by the following prices: A table 45 rupees ($15), a wall-bracket 15 rupees ($3), a picture-frame 6 rupees ($2), a wall-shelf 35 rupees ($12), a box 25 rupees ($8 or $9).f
In Rajputana, the town of Etawa, in the district of Kota, is to some extent a rival of Hushiarpur. Here shisham-wood is that principally used to receive the inlays, a fine specimen being a screen shown at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition. An interesting fact is that the industry in Kota is exclusively carried on by the members of two or three families of the
*T. N. Mukharji, "Art Manufactures of India," Calcutta, 1888, p. 245. flbid., p. 247.
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