This artwork is made of ivory and stands 13.97 centimeters, or 5.5 inches, tall. I purchased it in the Base Exchange at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands back in 1966, whilst enlisted in the U.S. Air Force Security Service. As best I can recall, the object cost about $50US, which was a lot of money in those days. I cannot, unfortunately, recall exactly where it was crafted; and the sticker which was on the bottom when it was new has long since fallen off. But I'm sure it was crafted somewhere in Southeast Asia -- perhaps Thailand. A 43-years passage of time can blur one's memory!

What's sad, of course, is that in those days the artists themselves and we who purchased such objects did not appreciate the impact all this was having on ivory-bearing animals. Thankfully, we know now. Although I paid around $50US for that item, the artist was probably paid $1US -- if he or she was lucky. It's a beautiful piece, of course; but it's also a lesson in exploitation.

In the event, I bought this artwork as a gift for my paternal aunt Mary. Apparently, upon Mary's death in the mid-1970s, my paternal aunt Lillian was given this object. When she died some years later, it was given to yet another person; and last year it came into the possession of my brother Terence.

He, in turn, gave it to me; and so the object's circle of possession is nearly closed. All that remains is for it to end up in the hands of the artist who made it; and although that seems unlikely, stranger things have happened.