Urban Scrimshaw? part 2: Mammoth Ivory!

Another fine form of ivory you will not be able to scavenge in your neighborhood, unless your neighborhood happens to be located in the Yakutia Republic of Russia, is Mammoth Ivory. The frozen ground of this region just south of the Arctic Circle has preserved the remains of millions, perhaps even billions of extinct Woolly Mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) which roamed the area up until the end of the Pleistocene Era some 10,000 years ago. During summer, the frozen tundra thaws just enough to reveal these ancient treasures to those who know where to look. Mammoth Ivory isn't just a recent commodity; Russian craftspeople have been carving the material into beautiful works of art for years, but thanks to ambitious fossil hunters like Igor G., Mammoth Ivory is finally readily available to crafters and hobbyists in America! This video offers a glimpse into the remote world of mammoth ivory excavations.

I first found out about Igor's business while searching for Mammoth Ivory on Ebay, and couldn't resist bidding on one of his lots of "Mammoth tusk trimmings" which consist of various sizes and shapes of tusk sold by the pound: My 2 pound lot (above) yielded a wonderful array of useful pieces of ancient ivory (detail below)! So what have I done with my Mammoth Ivory? I must admit to being somewhat intimidated by this ancient stuff; I cant help but feel awed by the tremendous age of the pieces, and have been reluctant to do anything other than handle them and ponder life on the tundra thousands of years ago. That said, I did choose some of the finest pieces and buff them well with a bit of beeswax on my dremel buffing wheel and solder brass display mounts for them. Those made fine gifts for the Natural History buffs in my family. I also used a piece to fashion a crude representation of an Eskimo fishing spear: As soon as I feel more comfortable with my scrimshaw skills, I shall certainly like to depict a whaling scene on one of my larger slabs of Mammoth Ivory! The fellow I mentioned in my previous post on piano key ivory, Derrick Cruz, has crafted a limited edition line of Mammoth Ivory straight razors for the gents under the name of his line Black Sheep and Prodigal Sons. Well played, Sir! And finally, if you'd like to learn more about Mammoths and the Mammoth Ivory trade, take a look at this excerpt from the book "Mammoths: Giants of the Ice Age" by Adrian Lister, Paul Bahn, and Jean Auel... fascinating reading! Please check back soon for part 3 of this post addressing the gentle art of scrimshaw! Mammoth Ivory Tusk Tip.

Urban Scrimshaw? Part One...

Driving past a boarded up house one gloomy afternoon I spied on the patio an old upright piano, wet and warped. My "ivory sense" tingled at the prospect that the piano might be old enough to have been fitted with ivory-clad keys rather than plastic. Indeed! Ivory keys, although one might have missed the keys altogether for the layers of dirt and leaves that had accumulated over the keyboard. Now, to address a necessary technicality briefly: The ivory itself is but a thin veneer over a wooden key, so although the piece of ivory is relatively small, bear in mind that there are around 52 of the white keys on a keyboard, so in total we end up with a nice little pile of ivory when the whole thing is stripped! I should also mention that each white key is generally divided into two parts, the area that the finger makes contact with, which yields a thin piece of ivory about 1" x 2" (referred to as a "head") and the long thin part which falls between the black keys, measuring perhaps 1/2" x 4" (referred to as the "tail"). Now some resourceful lad or lass had already taken the "heads" off of this old piano, but no matter; 52 tails is still a nice take! The picture below reveals the missing "heads" and the "tails" which were still affixed (note: this photo was taken retrospectively. I had cleaned the keys before I had the idea to keep things documented, so I placed them back where I had found them and snapped the photo. The dirty looking key in the center is as they were originally found; I had overlooked that one!)

Now a question for the FinderMaker: "Why Ivory?! Didn't an elephant have to die to get that stuff? Ewww!" I am delighted that the question was raised and will now assert that Yes, an elephant probably did die in the 1800's to take the tusk so that this piano could be fitted with ivory keys. Thankfully, the trade of ivory in the US was banned in 1990 (sadly, however, poachers still pursue elephants to supply other global markets for ivory). I abhor the idea of supporting the death of elephants for ivory, but if an elephant gave its life 100 years ago to supply ivory piano keys, I think it is a shame if those ivory piano keys go to waste left out in the weather, or worse yet, end up in a landfill. Honor the elephant by putting those fine old ivory keys to use; make something beautiful! It seems lately that creative folks are doing just that! One such fellow, Derrick Cruz, crafts and markets an exquisite line of jewelry and accessories featuring ivory piano keys under the name "Black Sheep and Prodigal Sons" His pieces are by no means inexpensive, but why should they be? The are wonderfully crafted, and quite unlike anything else on the market. Of course, with a little creativity, and access to an old piano, the ambitious reader can make some fine jewelry or accessories as well! Now, speaking of access to an old piano, gentle reader, they are everywhere! Unwanted pianos are nearly as prolific as old copies of National Geographic, so if you start poking around on craigslist, junkyards, alleys and empty lots, I have confidence that you, too, will find one. I find that by concentrating intensely on things I want to find, eventually I find it (usually just after I've forgotten I wanted it!). If all else fails, visit your local piano repairperson, who may have a box of old ivories they'd be willing to let you cull from for a nominal fee. Generally, piano key ivory can be popped off the keys without much effort using a knife-tip. Stubborn keys can be lifted by heating with a blow drier or heat gun set on low; this softens up the adhesive greatly and makes removal a snap. Although the keys I found were very dirty, they cleaned up nicely with a bit of mild soap and warm water. The upper 1/4 inch of mine had stained red from contact with part of the felted hammer mechanism; as I found this unappealing, I stacked them all up, bound them tightly with tape and cut off that portion of all of them en masse on the band saw.
This photo shows the keyboard stripped. I also took the black keys, which are carved of dense ebony wood which is black all the way through. I don't yet have a project in mind for them, but ebony is a nice wood that finds use in various inlay and decorative projects, and is certainly worth having on hand! In Part Two of this post, I'll touch upon "Mammoth Ivory" and introduce the gentle art of Scrimshaw...

Deer Skull Embellished in the Style of the Huichol Indians of Mexico.

While living in Los Angeles, I initiated a ramble through the scrubby hills of Laguna Beach in search of treasure. I found it in the form of the remains of a deer which had clearly slipped on a gravelly slope leading into a densely vegetated ravine. Entangled in the scrub and injured by the fall, the deer's fate was sealed, the bones scattered in the vicinity evidence that coyotes had ensured that the creatures death was not in vain. Alas, the effects of time and searing sun left my treasure clean and brightly bleached, and I hiked back to the car in possession of a fine dear skull with attached antlers!

Upon arrival back at the shop, I sat down and contemplated how I might best display the skull. I arrived upon the idea of cutting the "skull cap" with the attached antlers away from the rest of the skull, and mounting that skull cap on a plaque of some sort in the fashion of what is known as a "European Style Trophy Mount" in taxidermy circles. The cutting was performed on a bandsaw, great care having been taken to protect the eyes and lungs from the great cloud of truly awful smelling bone dust that was generated in the process. The operation was successful, and I managed to retain all of the fingers with which I was originally provided!

While finishing up the antlers, I received as a gift a curious craft which is commonly referred to as a "Huichol Yarn Painting", so named both for the tribal peoples who make the things, and the material from which they are fashioned.



I'll refrain from boring the reader with too much information on the Huichols, as there are entire websites devoted to them accessible via a quick Google search. Suffice it to say, then, that these remarkable people utilize such common materials as yarn and beads to fashion otherworldly artifacts which are truly otherworldly in the sense that much of the imagery and symbolism apparent derives from visions encountered during the ceremonial use of the hallucinogenic Peyote cactus (Lophophora Williamsii).

A quiet sort of revelation ensued when I happened upon images of ceremonial gourd bowls that the Huichols had embellished with colored glass seed beads in complex and colorful geometric patterns. The deer being of great importance in the scheme of Huichol religion, it became apparent that I should try my hand at Huichol style beadwork on the deer skull I had just prepared for display!

Some easy sleuthing revealed that the craft is affected by pushing the colored beads into a sticky coating which is applied to the substrate (wooden mask, gourd bowl, deer skull). The most commonly used "sticky substance" is a mixture of melted copal resin and beeswax blended together and applied while liquid. Upon cooling, the mixture firms up but maintains a tenacious tackiness which holds the beads firm to the substrate indefinitely. The same process is used in the yarn paintings, except colored strands of yarn are pressed into the wax blend instead of beads.




I had, from previous craft projects, a nice assortment of colored seed beads in the size "12" which is just a little smaller than the usual craft-store bought bead. There are many fine retailers of Native American crafts supplies that sell vast arrays of sizes and colors of seed beads (although I recommend avoiding Crazy Crow Trading Company as their stock is unpredictable and customer service is poor) and if you live near a Michael's or Crafts, Etc. you might peruse their selection of seed beads. It is worth noting that the Huichols make excellent use of the most vivid colors imaginable; It is mind boggling to imagine the stores of beads and yarns these folks must have on hand when one really looks closely at the stunning array of colors utilized in the average yarn painting or bead bowl. Pure beeswax is also available from your local craft supply merchant.

Now, as far as the copal is concerned, the substance is a resin which is exuded from a tree (Bursera fagaroides) in much the same way that a pine tree exudes sticky "pitch". Copal is commonly sold in Mexico and South America as an aromatic incense; it releases a heavenly aroma reminiscent of oranges when burned, and finds much use in religious ceremonies. I had some on hand which I had purchased in Tulum, Mexico, but for the purposes of the sticky base, one might very plausibly substitute pitch or sap collected from any of a number of species of conifers. If you are inclined to do things as the Huichols do, however, copal may be acquired rather inexpensively from Mazatec Garden. To make the sticky base, I simply heated equal parts broken up copal resin and beeswax in a can on a double boiler until the copal had melted completely and was thoroughly blended with the beeswax. The resulting liquid was then brushed over the whole skull such that the resulting sticky base measured about 1/8" in thickness.

Next it was time to think about an overall pattern that might look pleasing on the skull. I consulted countless photographs before arriving at the design I finally executed. The design is not a direct copy of any one Huichol piece, but rather a collection of ideas and symbolic imagery rendered in the colors available to me, and scaled to suit the shape of the skull. The application of beads began in the middle of the skull and was worked out towards the edges. An awl was used to pick up each bead individually and push it lightly into the sticky wax mixture.



The imagery used in this case was not complex; The dominant green form represents the peyote cactus, between the antlers is a representation of a deer head with antlers. Smaller peyotes are also represented, as are various colorful radiating auras of "life energy". The whole application process took maybe three days, working 5 or so hours a day.

Finally, I prepared the skull for mounting by embedding a bolt in plaster poured into the cranial cavity (back part) of the skull:



I created a plaque for the skull out of a curious type of plastic known to fans of the contemporary artist Matthew Barney as "Self-Lubricating Plastic", some scraps of which I had salvaged from the trash during the installation of his retrospective at The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art I think it makes a fine, contemporary looking background for the beaded skull, which is attached by drilling a hole in the plaque and threading the bolt through, then securing that with a nut.



The resulting artifact looks, to my eye, every bit as authentic as a true Huichol made piece, and makes a fine accompaniment to my authentic Huichol yarn painting. It is worth mentioning that, as is sadly the case with many indigenous people of the Americas, the Huichols are, monetarily, quite poor. I support purchasing true, Huichol made crafts when possible, as such support helps to ensure the survival of the people and their culture. I hope that this post will propagate a better understanding of and respect for Native craft techniques and inspire anyone who is so inclined, to roll up their shirtsleeves and try their own hand at Huichol style beadwork!

Finding things and turning them into other, better things. The FinderMaker!!!

Allow me to introduce myself... Paul B.. A Creative Sort. Certified Herbalist. Artist. Crafter. Museum Preparator. Browser. Beachcomber. Antiques Aficionado. Creator of the National Museum of Hospital and Pharmaceutical History. 

I've just relocated to Providence, Rhode Island after a stint on the west coast, and have been making stuff like crazy since I've been here. I've been inspired by the rich history of New England and the abundance of interesting materials and objects I've found here so far. 

My goal is to document the things I find and walk the reader through the process of taking those things and, with a little crafty flair, turn them into even cooler things. Problem is I've already made a bunch of neat stuff which I didn't have the foresight to document, so I'll post photos of those things, and commit to doing the full documentation on all projects going forward. Enjoy! Create!