The history of European ivory work is told through over three hundred objects featured in a catalog. Pieces from the abundant collection of the Louvre are revealed, often for the first time. Some of the works have an illustrious past - they belonged to Louis XIV, Marie-Antoinette, the Marquise de Pompadour. Modest or sumptuous, some commemorated a specific historic event, the consecration of Napoleon, the marriage of a princess of Saxony, or the German campaign.

But this collection also reveals a history of taste, and sometimes shows the erring ways of science...

It was assembled through the patience and passion of great nineteenth-century collectors such as Pierre Révoil, Charles Sauvageot, Adolphe Thiers, and the Baron Salomon von Rothschild, in particular.

A wide variety of pieces are examined, such as reliefs, statuettes, weaponry, fans, silver-mounted vases, knives, and curiosities, as well as objects from Ceylon, Japan, Africa, and Mexico.

This rich collection is published for the first time in its entirety in a fully illustrated catalog, providing a French-language reference on the subject since most previous publications have been in German or English.