THE ART OF THE IVORY CARVER
Mammoth ivory is no odinary ivory. It is heavier and a connoisseur will immediately recognize it from the unique veining. The material has absorbed moisture during the millennia it was buried in the ice, and needs to be slowly and carefully dried out over a period of three to five years. Only then can one cautiously cut, grind, turn, and polish it.
This takes special skills, and hardly anyone is better suited to ask than Jürgen Schott. As grand master of the guild of ivory carvers in the Odenwald region near Heidelberg, he is familiar with the rich tradition that has produced many outstanding works of art over the past 200 years.
