As I mentioned earlier my main interest in the Tusks was for scrimshaw

however to get at the ivory in the tusks one has first to remove the dentine

or enamel, because of the hardness this took some time, two full days on

one tusk. The pattern or the picture has then to be scratched  directly onto the

ivory and then filled with black ink, another method is to use a sharp needle

or pin and ‘tattoo’ the pattern on, but it must be sharp and hard.

I copied an end piece from Thomas Bewick’s book ‘A History of British Birds’ because I felt the subject was appropriate.

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My second piece of scrimshaw is of Sanderlings running

Along the beach.