Makram Saleh wrote...
Amazing! I wonder what is it used for? just art?

jaronsummers wrote...
Someone has ruined a perfectly good elephant.

anonymous troll wrote...
> Someone has ruined a perfectly good elephant. Yeah.... well, at least they didn't grind it up and snort it so they could get their chubby on.

jay_moe wrote...
It's a game where the object is to pass a a pin (usually more shaped ivory) through the entire ball..difficult enough as the holes are not regularly distributed.. beautiful piece of work all in all, shame about the elephant..

Alex Gray wrote...
Different times, people. This thing is like 100 years old... ivory was harvested at a time when people couldn't yet imagine the idea that we might run out of elephants. Hell, at the time this was made, we were making piano keys and billiard balls from the same stuff.

Tomisimo wrote...
A beautiful work of art

Leon wrote...
Most of the ivory used in China for at least the past century is mammoth ivory. You can only buy this by the ton, not the kilo, and is perfectly legal. It's apparently very enjoyable to carve. You can pick things like this up made from Jade - although admittedly less intricate - for around $3 at any Chinese market. This one's beautiful!

pricelessone_83 wrote...
The design is that of a "puzzle ball" ... there are many Jade replicas of this similar design ... I don't know about matching intricacy or detail, but the idea behind it is that of a game for young children. I should buy a couple of the replicas to save for my children, whenever I have them... hehe

Ale_____x wrote...
I have one of these. It was my grandfathers. The carved out inner surfaces rotate freely inside. the one i have has 12 layers. its absolutely amazing!

immagini by Linda Baron/ "Peace through Photography" wrote...
I also have one of these. The amazing thing about these balls is that they were carved from ONE piece of ivory. I am an animal rights advocate and would never buy a piece today, but I got mine in the 60's. It is a special treasure.

KB8WFH wrote...
I was just there a few weeks ago and have seen some of these types of carvings in other museums. They are absolutely fantastic and the craftsmanship needed to do this seems almost supernatural. Great shot.

Minigeek wrote...
This is actually currently on display at the National Palace Museum in Taiwan (as of 3 weeks ago from personal experience).

Raul Vaccaro wrote...
I don't approve elephant killing, but elephant dies and the bones and ivory survives longer, so, how do you know and elephant was shot for this and other sculptures?

John Shappell wrote...
Thats a nice photo of the ivory ball. I have one of these that I got in Hong Kong in the 60s. John...

a_buzit wrote...
hello i also have one of these balls. and i believe it is ivory, i was wondering if anyone has any idea to how much one of these peices is worth.. thanks for your help...

April wrote...
wow, this is amazing. i wonder how long it took to carve that out.

Stephen Chang wrote...
i was watching a documentry about the national palace museum, and this ivory ball and the balls inside are made out of one piece of ivory.. scientists still to this day with all the technology we have, do not know how it was made.

kate.hicks2 wrote...
I have a carved ball just like this one, it is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I just wish it were made from some other material.