The significance of ivory world wide is evident through the negative impact with the involvement of slaves, the political rivalries ivory caused, and how ivory provided an incentive for European colonization.
History and OriginIvory became a good nessesary for survival in the late 1800s during Kind Leopold's rule. Kind Leopold II of Belguim ordered slaves to remove the tusks of elephants, then he would trade them to different countries. The tusks were shipped out and sent all over Europe, (about 800 to 1,000 sent around Europe in total) and were also sent to Japan, where the Japanesse found them very useful in the prodcution of Hankos.
Hankos are nessesary in the art of creating beautiful japanese stamps. These stamps are tradditonal and usually have a Japanese character on them. The stamp holder is crafted with African elephant ivory, for the strong ivory prodivdes a sturdy grip for the hand to hold, as well as allows the actual stamp to have very fine details, because ivory is so easy to carve. Here is a YouTube video of the production process of Japanesse Hanko art: |
ImpactInvolvment of slaves, used to collect ivory Political rivalries caused by ivory European colonization influenced by ivory To learn more about the uses and trade of ivory, click here |