Chinese puzzle ball
[6][9] The Sotheby's catalogue, 2017, tells that "The earliest known example [of contrefait] is a sphere turned by Giovanni Ambrogio Maggiore of Milan in 1582 now preserved in the Museo degli Argenti in Florence.
It requires a great deal of skill to make twenty or more shells like onion skins – each diminishing in size and some in relief – out of or in an ivory sphere, but certainly not a machine (so typical of the West)".
[6] She also suggests that China and Europe may have exchanged knowledge about polyhedral geometry through German Jesuit missions, leading to improved craftsmanship in both regions.
[11] Production of the ivory puzzle balls became more common due to the thriving artisanal export industry that emerged in Canton after 1760 when the government restricted foreign merchants to that region.
At the imperial court in China, puzzle balls were another form of decoration that conspicuously flaunted the emperor’s wealth and ability to wield the labour and talent of the populace.
[13] Chinese puzzle balls also appealed to government officials, literati scholars, and any other upper-class elites who aimed to project sociopolitical status with this purchase by showing it off in their homes .
[14] Artworks made of ivory carried social prestige in both China and Europe due to being a rare, delicate, as well as costly material that only a privileged few could own, much less pay to have crafted, historically.
However, the production of Chinese puzzle balls slowed down starting in the early 20th century as carved ivory trade suffered with the economic and political upheavals of that time.
[7] Fourteen peepholes are drilled with conical-shaped incisions, before the carver then goes in with L-shaped scalpels to separate the different layers of the ivory puzzle ball so that each can dynamically move independently of the others.
[7] This is an alternative to having to break apart the puzzle ball to see inside it well, due to how little light filters into the center of the small artifacts and the tiny delicate size of the carvings.
[5] The production and trading of Chinese puzzle ball are currently impeded by the ban on the processing and sales of ivory enacted at the end of 2017 by China's State Forestry Administration (SFA).
[18] Chinese puzzle balls, like many other ivory carved goods in China, hold market appeal as traditional aesthetic items and speculative cultural commodities.
[19] As many masters become older and lose their eyesight, there will be little remaining time to pass down this craft to the next generation of Chinese puzzle ball artisans.
[20] This allows learners to learn from videos of masters and practice the skill virtually, and preserves the craftsmanship technique in a permanent way for when new suitable materials for Chinese puzzle balls can be discovered.
