Forum Pakistan

One of the most ancient crafts practised by the peoples of South Asia. Tusks of local elephants were used as were tusks imported from Africa, narwhal tusks, and 'fish teeth' (most likely the tusks of mammoths). Various methods of ivory-work were practised in the territory of Pakistan, including carving-openwork or tracery-polishing, tooling on a lathe, engraving, painting, and etching. Ivory is also used as finishing material in inlays on wood. The tools used are saws, drills, and chisels. To make work easier, ivory is softened through storage in a wet cloth.

The most ancient objects made of ivory belonged to the *Harappa civilization. Combs, hairpins, sticks for painting eyelids, batons, seals, and other objects of everyday use were found there. These objects continued to be made of ivory in the centuries that followed. The most ancient ivory sculpture dates from the second century Be.

Ivory tooling was particularly widespread in the *Kushan empire. The world's largest find of ivory objects from the first-second century AD was made in Bagram, Afghanistan: among other objects, some 6,000 plaquettes were found bearing reliefs for decorating furniture. Plates with engraved drawings were also discovered there.

In the *Mughal empire, ivory was fashionable, but mostly objects of everyday use were produced: dagger hilts, powder flasks, and dice, for example. Floral and geometrical ornaments were predominant. Ivory inlays on wood were also known in that period.
In the nineteenth century, the character of ivory objects changed under European influence. Sculptures with a likeness to the original became valued, as did accuracy in the representation of ethnic types, their costumes and animals, all of which seem exotic to the European eye.