Ivory engraving and carving is a medium of artistic expression from time immemorial. India, with its huge elephant population, has long been a centre of ivory work. Along with muslin and spices, ivory ranked among the topmost products sought from India by kings and courtiers of foreign countries in ancient times.

Ivory crafting is spread almost all over India, with peoples developing their own specialties. The ivory carvers of Jaipur , Bengal, and Delhi are known for their engraved models of `ambari hathi` or processional elephant, bullock carts, sandals , caskets, book covers, and palanquins. There is a Orissan tradition that offering ivory inlaid furniture to the Jagannath temple at Puri. Miniature shrines with delicate pillars and intricate relief floral work, caskets depicting scenes from myths and legends, and images of gods and goddesses have been a tradition in Kerala and Karnataka.

Now-a days, the list of ivory products in popular demand has spread to a number of commodities like chess sets, billiard balls and articles like perfume bottles, paper knives, trinket or pan boxes, and jewellery items like beads, bead necklaces, bangles and rings, made mostly in Delhi.

Rajasthan is famous for its ivory fans with attractive figures for handles and centre pieces for the dining table. The ivory work on the doors of the Amber Palace in Jaipur and the exquisite in-lay in the Mysore Palace doors and the Golden Temple at Amritsar proclaim the role of ivory in architectural decoration.

Craftsmen of Gujarat carve exquisite human figures as also images of deities.Uttar Pradesh is famous for its ivory products of deities, dancing figures and decorative plaques.

Kerala has excelled in the field of painting on ivory. The state with its plethora of temples with spectacular carvings proves their superb workmanship. The Scenes from the Ramayana and other epic stories and a statue of St.George on a giant charger, killing the dragon with his spear are some of the master works of ivory prove their artistic achievement.

The superb carved elephant in Delhi is an excellent example of the intricacy and delicacy of the ivory-carving tradition of northern India. It shows the Emperor Shahjahan, seated in a royal howdah on a lavishly caparisoned elephant. It took the master craftsman three full years to complete.

Procedure of making Ivory Products
Ivory is a dense substance covered with an outer layer of rough bark which has to be removed first. The object to be carved is first sketched on the piece of ivory and a variety of chisels are used to carve the minutest details. The tusk is dipped in milk to soften it for easy carving. Delicate carving is done using variety of files. The surface is first smoothened out by sandpaper, then dipped in methylated spirit with a brush if it is white or if yellow in water mixed with hydrogen peroxide which whitens it. Although, the craftsmanship in these materials is not as refined as in the ivory carving on these materials for giving a new lease of life to the artisans. Carving entails systematic scrapping/scooping and chiseling of the materials from the core block.