This tusk from an extinct mammoth was unearthed in China sometime after the rule of the Great Khan. For over a century, artists labored to create a lively and complex scene with hundreds of individual carvings. If straightened, the tusk would be over four feet long. It is carved on more than 80% of its length and throughout most of its radius.
This is one of the two tusks on display at Treasure Island. One has a palace theme, the other, military.
Well done given the constraints. Something done by three generations of meticulous hands lit by oil lamps just doesn't seem to belong in a place with so many sweaty palms in a neon dusk.
Guest
29-Dec-2009 04:01
Amazing piece of craftmanship. I bet this tusk is big?