Abstract
Chinese ivory puzzle balls are known for their beauty, finesse and their ability to intrigue viewers. From the eighteenth century until recently, they have been crafted by turning, using a simple lathe and a set of drilling and carving tools developed in the eighteenth century. The craft of Chinese ivory puzzle balls has been described as the ‘devil’s work’, as it requires a great deal of proficiency, accuracy and patience. This study presents a novel method for quantifying the crafting process of Chinese ivory puzzle balls. The method is based on measuring the morphological properties of ivory balls in three-dimensional images obtained using X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) scanning techniques. The accuracy of the crafting process is obtained by comparing the measured properties with an underlying mathematical model of the ball. We apply the proposed method to ivory balls from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the National Palace Museum in Taipei. The results show substantial differences in the accuracy of the crafting process. From an art-historical perspective, the results show that the accuracy of the crafting process evolved during the eighteenth century. They also suggest that the ivory balls we have analyzed have been crafted with different types of turning tools.
Highlights
Chinese ivory puzzle balls are known for their beauty, finesse and their ability to intrigue viewers
From the eighteenth century until recently, they have been crafted by turning, using a simple lathe and a set of drilling and carving tools developed in the eighteenth century
The craft of Chinese ivory puzzle balls has been described as the ‘devil’s work’, as it requires a great deal of proficiency, accuracy and patience
Summary
Crafting tools Lathes were used to turn ivory puzzle balls. 11a, b were used by artisans as a geometric model of an ivory ball with fourteen peepholes.[19] The drawing in fig. We use the model to quantify step 3 (making peepholes), step 4 (separating the layers) and step 5 (creating openwork patterns) of the crafting process. The orientation of a peephole in the crafted ball is the same as the orientation of the corresponding line defined in the model. B) Layer Measurement (crafting c) Example of a flower pattern consisting of one circle element, four ellipse process step 4): The thickness of each layer and the distance between each layer is computed from the 3d data (red and green lines in middle panel). C) Pattern Measurement (crafting process step 5): The size of each element on each layer is measured (one circular element, four triangle c elements, four elliptical elements)
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