See link for photos. He might be repairing an ivory necklace that had lost a bead or the chip in an ivory jewelry box β practicing a dying art. Heckmann said he learned to carve ivory from his father, who learned from his father. They used the very same tools that now clutter his workbench and the machines that stand ready in his workshop, but then the tools of this trade, from metal files to jigsaw cutters, have not changed since the s.
He may be the last of his family in the trade, too. While Mr. Ivory, the hard white material of elephant tusks, has been prized since ancient times in treasures like the 35,year-old Venus of Hohle Fels, one of the oldest known sculptures of the human form, and the scores of ivory bangles that the British shipping heiress Nancy Cunard stacked along both arms in the early s for her portraits by Man Ray and Cecil Beaton.
But as demand for ivory grew and elephant herds were decimated, countries took action, and in the international ivory trade was banned, although authorities continue to battle poaching and smuggling operations. The restrictions in France changed Mr.
Each one is a surprisingly dull beige until it is polished to a gleaming surface that exposes the creamy color underneath. When his father was young the city was still a center of the ivory trade, with ships bringing the tusks of elephants and walruses from Africa and Asia. As the port city began to lose its prominence, the family moved to Paris in , living and working at 57 Rue Bonaparte.
Heckmann said with some pride. Now he and his grandson live outside the city, and Nicolas drives them to work. Heckmann said. As the bells of the church of St. Heckmann prepared to head to lunch, locking the front door and grabbing onto the arm of his grandson, a necessity since he fell down some stairs a year ago.
