More than 500 Baroque and later ivories from the V&A’s outstanding collection are illustrated and discussed in this scholarly catalogue. Included here is every ivory sculpture made after 1550 from a collection comprising German, Austrian, Netherlandish, British, French, Italian, Scandinavian, Russian, and Spanish pieces, as well as examples from the Philippines, Goa, Sri Lanka, and South America. The range of objects is extensive: statuettes, reliefs, tankards, boxes, cabinets, and cutlery handles are all represented.
The high quality of the V&A’s holdings is readily apparent; leading ivory sculptors to be found here include Francis van Bossuit, Benjamin Cheverton, Balthasar Griessman, Joachim Henne, Johann Christoph Ludwig Lüecke, David Le Marchand, and Balthasar Permoser. In addition to detailed entries on each piece, the introduction summarizes the history and techniques of Baroque and later ivory carving, while indexes of subjects and artists, in addition to a bibliography, provide a full scholarly apparatus.