Ignaz Elhafen at the AGO

On a recent evening visit to the AGO I returned to the amazing ivory and wood carvings from the Thomson Collection. I forever am impressed at the ability of these carvers from Medieval to Baroque period for not only their ability to do such intricate work, but also the level of anatomical knowledge they possessed.

Ignaz Elhafen one just one of the many on display that caught my attention for his intricacy. He's not a common name, nor is he considered one of the greats since it seems he concentrated on the same theme over and over again (precursor to mass production?), but damn he was good. He must have had the hands of of brain surgeon, and perhaps the brain of one too to have such all encompassing grasp of form in space. To an expert Ignaz may not be impressive, but to me he is and once again I have to express my thanks to the late Ken Thomson for his inclusion of Ignaz' work in his collection.