Fig. 125.—Carved Ivory Panels of a Pulpit Door; Saracenic. (S.K.M.)
In an ancient Coptic church in Cairo there is a massive partition or screen of ebony, in which is a central door and two side panels. This screen has a rich display of inlaid ivory carved with arabesques, and has ivory crosses in high relief. The screen is believed by Mr. Butler—the author of “The Ancient Coptic Churches of Egypt”—to be a work of the tenth century, and also to be the model on which the ivory carving of the mosques was founded.
The ivory carvings in Saracenic work are usually found as carved or chased panels, with arabesque designs, and surrounded with geometric linear framing (Fig. 125).
The best of this type of work was executed in the fourteenth century. Objects made of ivory alone are very rare in Saracenic art. The illustration given of an ivory ink-horn is unique in this material, but ink-horns of the same shape are common that have been made in copper and brass.
Figure and animal carvings of Saracenic or Moorish design have been made in Spain, and in some other countries under the rule of the Saracens, but are not found in the Egyptian Saracenic.
China has always been prolific in the production of ivory carvings. There are numerous statuettes of Confucius, Cheoü-lao, the god of old age, of the Buddhist female divinity Kouan-in, and of other divinities. Necklaces, pierced plaques for waist-belt decoration, and the su-chus or rosaries, all are carved with a certain archaic quality and quaintness, but of a minute and unsurpassed dexterity of workmanship.
The Chinese ivory fans of pierced work are beautiful and as delicate as lace-work. Examples of these are very common.
Fig. 126.—Ivory Ink-Horn; Saracenic. (S.K.M.)
The pen-cases called pitongs are beautiful objects, carved with dragons, flowers, and quaint figures in toy-like houses and gardens.