Adam and Eve 1671

Pieter Xaveri carved this statuette of Adam out of ivory in the 17th century. Ivory, with its creamy hue and capacity for fine detail, was a prized material for sculptors during this period. Consider the labor involved: Xaveri would have needed specialized tools to carve the hard material, and the skill to render the human anatomy so precisely. Look closely and you can see the marks of the artist's hand. The surface is smooth, but not perfectly so, allowing the light to play across the figure. Ivory carving was a luxury trade, linking the artist to global networks of commerce and power. The extraction of ivory was, and still is, deeply intertwined with colonialism, exploitation, and environmental destruction. As you contemplate the figure of Adam, remember that it is embedded in these stories of making, which lie just beneath its polished surface.