Ivory carving was one of the earliest arts in China.Exquisitely carved ivory artifacts have been recovered from the tombs of kings dating back to the Shang dynasty of the eighteenth to twelfth centuries B.C. These artifacts were so beautifully designed and skillfully executed, they whispered to archaeologists of a far earlier origin for the ivory carver's art, perhaps dating back to the dim ages before China's long and well-documented history.

Introduction

Okimono

Additional Ivory Artifacts

Ivory Itself

Beware Modern Ivory

History of Ivory Production

Chinese Origins and Development

Japanese Ivory

Japanese History: Tokugawa to Meiji

Meiji Japan's Art, Artists, and Art Sellers

as Witnessed Through Western Eyes

Interview with a Japanese Ivory Carver

The Myanmar Case Study

Symbolism, Chinese and Japanese

The Scholar's Life

Ivory Figures

The Allure

The Order of Curiosities and Dainty Objects.

Fruit and Flowers

Landscapes

The Animal Kingdom

The Human Form

Bibliography

Index