traces of gold plating. This table and chair were presented to the museum by Maharaja of Darbhanga. The carvers of Murshidabad called the solid end of the elephant tusk as Nakshidant, the middle portion as Khondidant and the thick hollow end as Galhardant. They preferred using the solid end of the elephant tusk for their work. Sri Lankan ivories were also a noted tradition. Objects Ivory carving in India can be categorised in both non-decorative and decorative objects. The unadorned objects are specifically from earlier Indian history and consists of domestic objects such hooks, needles, pins and gaming pieces, partial rudimentary ornamentation is observed in some cases. Another prominent typology discovered is of grooming objects and the most common examples in this category are combs and hairpins. Typical example of ivory combs from the earlier period is from Kushan dynasty, discovered in Taxila, present day Pakistan. The comb consisted of fine teeths with intermittent coarse teeth on one side and a flat edge on the other side engraved with animal and human figurines. Later, from 17th century onwards it is observed that both ends of the combs are lined with fine teeths with ornate central area consisting of female figurines and animals in bas-relief in colours. Apart from the small objects, ivory carvings was also used in furniture, containers, building elements and carved boats mounted on display stands. One of the exquisite example of ivory carved chair can be seen in Salar Jung Museum, this chair was gifted to Tipu Sultan by King Louis XVI and later acquired by Salar Jung III in 1949. Significant examples of use of ivory in building elements can be seen in the Darshani Door at Sri Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar and the entrance door at the Mausoleum of Tipu Sultan. East Asia Ivory was not a prestigious material in the rather strict hierarchy of Chinese art, where jade has always been far more highly regarded, and rhinoceros horn, which is not ivory, had a special auspicious position. But ivory, as well as bone, has been used for various items since early times, when China still had its own species of elephant — demand for ivory seems to have played a large part in their extinction, which came before 100 BC. From the Ming dynasty ivory began to be used for small statuettes of the gods and others (see gallery). In the Qing dynasty it