Thomas, I really don't hope that this will catch on! There must be alternatives to ivory in our advanced world. PLS. think about the few remaining elephants!
Best Regards Göran ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Schall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Howard Posner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "Lautenliste" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: 26. november 2003 15:19 Subject: Re: ivory in lutes | A lute building friend has contacts to an ivory trader and confirmed | that the use of small amounts of ivory would be legal within the EU, | above (if I remember correctly) 700g it would need an affirmation of the | CITES. | The friend toys with the idea to build a copy of the Gerle lute in | vienna. | | We had the topic a while ago and the sound of ivory lutes was then | described as different (brighter) to the sound of the wooden ones and it | would have been better audible in larger ensembles. | | I remember some reports in TV saying the work with ivory would not be | illegal just the trade. This was somehow because there are traditional | workshops working with ivory who should get the chance to use up their | stock. | Actually the amount of ivory used to build lutes is neglectable even if | the complete body would be made of ivory - I guess you could make dozens | of lutes from the ivory used to build the keys for just one piano. there | is an ivory lute by Martin Hoffmann in munich (as I've seen it it was | borrowed to Nuernberg) which is very light and (because it was destroyed | by a handgranate) taking a look at the used ivory it's *very* thin. I | guess the amount used was something between 1 or 1,5 kg. | | Anyhow it's not a necessary material for lute building. There is good | synthetic substitutional material. As experiment I don't think it's | morally completly abjective to use ivory to find out what the advantages | or disadvantages could have been and why it was such a popular material | for building lutes because noone would kill an elefant for a lute (while | thousends were and are killed for piano keys). | | I'm not sure about the use of mammoth. I fear it's sold simply to make | money out of it. | | Thomas | | Am Mit, 2003-11-26 um 08.36 schrieb Howard Posner: | | > James Edwards wrote: | > | > > a tusk of what? Mammoth, elephant, walrus, | > > rhinocerous, or other; and where did he get it from? I'm sure he acquired it | > > legally somehow, but don't you want to know? It's odd to me that we can be so | > > concerned about the details of "historical correctness" regarding the lute | > > and its music, and yet have a cavalier attitude about a contemporary and | > > controversial issue that involves the lives of other (non-lute playing) | > > mammals | > > currently sharing the planet with us. | > | > A fair question; I suppose healthy skepticism is warranted. I, for one, am | > a little skeptical about you and your wife keeping elephants in your living | > room, but I suppose when you live near Hearst castle the zoning rules are a | > bit lax. | > | > Dan certainly did not get it from a rhinoceros, BTW, since rhinoceri have no | > ivory; rhino horns are keratin and useless to humans, except to be ground | > into powder and sold at ridiculous prices as an aphrodisiac. It is probably | > the single most preposterous cause of driving an animal to the point of | > extinction. | > | > H | | -- | Thomas Schall | Niederhofheimer Weg 3 | D-65843 Sulzbach | 06196/74519 | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | www.lautenist.de / www.tslaute.de/weiss | | -- |
